When there is not enough
Allocation under shortage — priority, partial allocation, saying no, and who is allowed to decide.
Allocation Under Shortage
What actually happens when claims exceed capacity, the order that resolves most shortfalls without escalation, and what to do when it does not.
Priority Rules Written in Advance
Why a priority rule has to exist before the shortage, the four rules in common use, and what makes one defensible rather than merely stated.
Partial Allocation and Why It Fails
When half a claim produces half the value and when it produces none, the threshold test that distinguishes them, and the cost of fragmenting people across claims.
Saying No With a Number
How to decline a claim in a way that survives the conversation, the four elements of a usable refusal, and why a refusal without a number is heard as an opinion.
Who Is Allowed to Decide
The four decisions a shortage forces, who should take each, and what goes wrong when they are all taken by the person holding the spreadsheet.
Buying Capacity: Contractors, Agencies and Outsourcing
Why bought capacity delivers roughly half its invoiced hours in the first quarter, the four deductions that explain it, and when buying is still right.
Moving the Date Instead of the People
Why a date is usually the cheapest thing in a plan to change, the three kinds of date and which of them actually bind, and how to ask for a move.
The Queue Nobody Admits To
Where deferred work actually goes, why an invisible backlog behaves worse than a visible one, and the three numbers that make a queue manageable.