Every organization has a roadmap.
It’s usually well thought out, reviewed by leadership, maybe even color-coded in a slide deck. But here’s what I see time and again: teams aren’t falling behind because they’re bad at execution. They’re falling behind because planned work keeps getting bumped by emergent work—and nobody’s tracking it.
Emergent work is the stuff that isn’t on the roadmap.
It’s the request that shows up in a Slack message.
The production issue that can’t wait.
The last-minute “favor” from another department.
It’s unplanned. But it’s also unavoidable.
Most teams are buried under this kind of work—and because they’re not tracking it clearly, it becomes invisible. Leadership sees that planned work isn’t getting done, but they don’t see what’s getting done instead.
That disconnect creates frustration on both sides.
Here’s the problem: when you can’t prove where the time is going, you can’t advocate for what you need.
I’ve worked with teams that have begged for more headcount—only to be asked, “What are your people doing all day?” And they didn’t have the data to answer. So nothing changed.
But when we implement systems that track planned vs. emergent work, everything clicks into place. Suddenly, teams can say:
Now the conversation shifts from blame to resourcing.
If emergent work is eating your roadmap, here’s how to take control:
Emergent work isn’t going away. That’s not the goal.
But when it goes untracked, it becomes the silent killer of your strategy. It erodes timelines, burns out teams, and makes planning feel like a waste of time.
The good news? Once you can see it, you can do something about it.
If your teams are drowning in unplanned work and no one can see the impact, let’s change that.
Every organization has a roadmap.
It’s usually well thought out, reviewed by leadership, maybe even color-coded in a slide deck. But here’s what I see time and again: teams aren’t falling behind because they’re bad at execution. They’re falling behind because planned work keeps getting bumped by emergent work—and nobody’s tracking it.
Emergent work is the stuff that isn’t on the roadmap.
It’s the request that shows up in a Slack message.
The production issue that can’t wait.
The last-minute “favor” from another department.
It’s unplanned. But it’s also unavoidable.
Most teams are buried under this kind of work—and because they’re not tracking it clearly, it becomes invisible. Leadership sees that planned work isn’t getting done, but they don’t see what’s getting done instead.
That disconnect creates frustration on both sides.
Here’s the problem: when you can’t prove where the time is going, you can’t advocate for what you need.
I’ve worked with teams that have begged for more headcount—only to be asked, “What are your people doing all day?” And they didn’t have the data to answer. So nothing changed.
But when we implement systems that track planned vs. emergent work, everything clicks into place. Suddenly, teams can say:
Now the conversation shifts from blame to resourcing.
If emergent work is eating your roadmap, here’s how to take control:
Emergent work isn’t going away. That’s not the goal.
But when it goes untracked, it becomes the silent killer of your strategy. It erodes timelines, burns out teams, and makes planning feel like a waste of time.
The good news? Once you can see it, you can do something about it.
If your teams are drowning in unplanned work and no one can see the impact, let’s change that.
Every organization has a roadmap.
It’s usually well thought out, reviewed by leadership, maybe even color-coded in a slide deck. But here’s what I see time and again: teams aren’t falling behind because they’re bad at execution. They’re falling behind because planned work keeps getting bumped by emergent work—and nobody’s tracking it.
Emergent work is the stuff that isn’t on the roadmap.
It’s the request that shows up in a Slack message.
The production issue that can’t wait.
The last-minute “favor” from another department.
It’s unplanned. But it’s also unavoidable.
Most teams are buried under this kind of work—and because they’re not tracking it clearly, it becomes invisible. Leadership sees that planned work isn’t getting done, but they don’t see what’s getting done instead.
That disconnect creates frustration on both sides.
Here’s the problem: when you can’t prove where the time is going, you can’t advocate for what you need.
I’ve worked with teams that have begged for more headcount—only to be asked, “What are your people doing all day?” And they didn’t have the data to answer. So nothing changed.
But when we implement systems that track planned vs. emergent work, everything clicks into place. Suddenly, teams can say:
Now the conversation shifts from blame to resourcing.
If emergent work is eating your roadmap, here’s how to take control:
Emergent work isn’t going away. That’s not the goal.
But when it goes untracked, it becomes the silent killer of your strategy. It erodes timelines, burns out teams, and makes planning feel like a waste of time.
The good news? Once you can see it, you can do something about it.
If your teams are drowning in unplanned work and no one can see the impact, let’s change that.
Every organization has a roadmap.
It’s usually well thought out, reviewed by leadership, maybe even color-coded in a slide deck. But here’s what I see time and again: teams aren’t falling behind because they’re bad at execution. They’re falling behind because planned work keeps getting bumped by emergent work—and nobody’s tracking it.
Emergent work is the stuff that isn’t on the roadmap.
It’s the request that shows up in a Slack message.
The production issue that can’t wait.
The last-minute “favor” from another department.
It’s unplanned. But it’s also unavoidable.
Most teams are buried under this kind of work—and because they’re not tracking it clearly, it becomes invisible. Leadership sees that planned work isn’t getting done, but they don’t see what’s getting done instead.
That disconnect creates frustration on both sides.
Here’s the problem: when you can’t prove where the time is going, you can’t advocate for what you need.
I’ve worked with teams that have begged for more headcount—only to be asked, “What are your people doing all day?” And they didn’t have the data to answer. So nothing changed.
But when we implement systems that track planned vs. emergent work, everything clicks into place. Suddenly, teams can say:
Now the conversation shifts from blame to resourcing.
If emergent work is eating your roadmap, here’s how to take control:
Emergent work isn’t going away. That’s not the goal.
But when it goes untracked, it becomes the silent killer of your strategy. It erodes timelines, burns out teams, and makes planning feel like a waste of time.
The good news? Once you can see it, you can do something about it.
If your teams are drowning in unplanned work and no one can see the impact, let’s change that.
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