Scope creep: what to get right first

Most teams know this matters. Fewer have decided who owns it. If you only fix one thing about scope creep this quarter, make it the first item below.

The projects that go badly are rarely the ones with the hardest technical problems. Assume whoever inherits this will have half your context and none of your patience.

Start here

Small additions compound into missed deadlines. In practice this is a scheduling problem more than a technical one. Budget a little time for it every quarter and it never becomes a project of its own.

Then this

A written change process protects both sides. It is worth being explicit about, because assumptions differ quietly. Budget a little time for it every quarter and it never becomes a project of its own.

Eventually

Say yes to the change and honest about the cost. It is worth being explicit about, because assumptions differ quietly. Most teams find the first pass takes an afternoon and the maintenance takes minutes a month.

What this looks like day to day

Strategy work is mostly deciding what not to do, and writing it down so it stays decided. Three things worth confirming about scope creep before you move on:

• Someone can say what the current setup is without going to look
• Say yes to the change and honest about the cost — and you know whether that is true here
• There is a way to tell whether the last change to this helped

Most of the value here comes from doing the first two things, not all of them.