Portfolio Mondays · Stealable one-pager
One-Page Portfolio Dependency View
Put every dependency that crosses a project boundary on one page, with one owner and an honest confidence call.
From The Risks That Live Between Projects, a Portfolio Mondays episode on Portfolio Intelligence. Watch the episode
The view
One row per dependency that crosses a project boundary. Keep it boring.
| Providerteam, platform, or vendor window | Consumerwhich project needs it | Date neededwhen the consumer breaks without it | Ownerone name | Confidencehigh / medium / low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Two rules
- Every cross-item dependency has one owner. If two people own it, nobody owns it.
- Anything marked low confidence goes to the monthly portfolio review as a decision, not status: protect the date, move capacity, or accept the slip.
If it crosses projects, it gets a row, or it gets named at the next review. No silent exceptions.
Checklist
- Pull every open project RAID into one place this week.
- Tag anything that crosses a boundary: shared people, shared platforms, handoffs, sequencing, shared assumptions.
- Give each cross-item dependency one owner. One name.
- Mark confidence. Send every low to the next portfolio review as a decision, not as status.
- Pin the view next to the operating rhythm, and refresh it before each monthly review.
AI can scan logs for shared names, systems, and dates, draft the view, and flag collisions. Humans assign owners, set confidence, and make the call.
Worked example (fictional)
All green, then the shared identity platform team slips three weeks. One provider, three consumers, one page.
| Providerteam, platform, or vendor window | Consumerwhich project needs it | Date neededwhen the consumer breaks without it | Ownerone name | Confidencehigh / medium / low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identity platform team | Legacy auth patch window | In 4 weeks | Security lead | Medium |
| Identity platform team | Compliance training portal refresh | In 6 weeks | Portal lead | Low (dropped after the slip) |
| Identity platform team | Partner API gateway cutover | In 8 weeks | Gateway lead | Medium |
At the monthly review the room decides: protect the patch window and slip the portal, move two people onto the identity team for three weeks, or accept amber on the gateway and log it. Each call goes in the decision log with an owner and a next check.
One-Page Portfolio Dependency View · scottpresley.net/tools/dependency-view · Portfolio Mondays on Portfolio Intelligence · AI drafts. Humans decide.