Decision brief / DB-04
For executive consideration
A governed reading of the four realities.
01 / The condition
The Four Realities are four evidence domains that must be reconciled around a consequential decision: business reality, delivery reality, technical reality, and financial reality. None is sufficient alone.
02 / Why reporting misses it
Organizations divide evidence along functional boundaries. Finance sees forecast and commitments. Delivery sees milestones and dependencies. Technical authorities see proof and acceptance. Business sponsors see outcomes and operating readiness. Material risk often lives between those views rather than inside one of them.
03 / Evidence to examine
- 01Business outcomes and operating readiness.
- 02Delivery milestones, dependencies, constraints, and forecast confidence.
- 03Technical proof, acceptance, residual uncertainty, financial commitments, and benefit assumptions.
04 / Authority involved
Each domain retains authority over its evidence. Governance must reconcile the relationships among those sources and elevate the integrated condition to the people authorized to decide.
05 / Executive question
“What happens when business, delivery, technical, and financial evidence tell different stories?”
06 / Illustrative condition
Delivery reports an approaching release, finance assumes the planned benefit date, the business has not completed operational preparation, and technical acceptance remains qualified. Each function may be accurately reporting its own reality. Governance must make their relationship visible.
Decision consequence
- +Cross-functional disagreement can be legitimate and decision-relevant.
- +Integration is a governance responsibility, not merely a reporting task.
- +The strongest signal may be a contradiction between authoritative sources.
Book connection
Volume I develops the Four Realities as the evidence surface for discovering material relationships. Volume II shows how the record can preserve them.