Executive Adoption Risk Scan · Sample evidence package
The system will be ready in eleven weeks. Will the people?
An independent ten-day read on where adoption is exposed across the five conditions that decide whether a transformation pays off, and what leadership needs to decide before go-live.
Executive adoption risk brief
The technology is on track. Two conditions put the return at risk.
This is the one-page answer a steering committee gets first: how exposed the investment is, where, and why it matters to the business case.
Bottom line
Executives are confident and aligned on purpose. Below them, readiness drops sharply. Managers in Plant Operations and Maintenance cannot yet describe how daily work will change, and most frontline teams expect to keep their spreadsheets after go-live.
If go-live proceeds on the current plan, the system will launch, but the inventory and maintenance planning benefits in the business case are unlikely to appear on schedule.
Recommendation: hold the go-live date, add adoption criteria to the go or no-go decision, and close the workflow and role gaps in the two highest-risk units over the next 30 days.
Workflow and role clarity is the weakest condition
Only a third of frontline staff can describe their post-go-live process. New approval paths are undefined in two units.
Leaders and managers see different readiness
Executives rate readiness at 74 percent. Managers rate it at 38 percent. That gap is the clearest early warning.
No one owns adoption after go-live
Measurement ends at cutover. No business owner is accountable for whether the new way of working sticks.
Sponsorship and purpose are strong
Senior leaders tell a consistent story about why the change matters. This is an asset to build on.
Five-condition risk profile
Readiness looks different depending on who you ask.
Each condition is scored from 0 to 100. The dashed ring marks the readiness level we would expect before a go-live of this size. Switch views to see how the picture changes from the boardroom to the front line.
Condition scores, all groups
The dark marker on each bar shows the expected readiness level of 70.
Heat map
Where the exposure sits, unit by unit.
Risk is rarely spread evenly. Select any cell to see what drove the rating. Plant Operations and Maintenance carry most of the exposure, and they also carry most of the expected benefit.
Evidence and signal summary
What the status reports were not showing.
Findings come from interviews, a short pulse survey, and project documents. Signals are counted only when they appear in more than one source.
The confidence gap
Share who agree the organization is ready, executives compared with managers
Workarounds people plan to keep
Mentions across interviews and pulse comments
“We were told what is changing. Nobody has told us what we will actually do differently on Monday.”
Maintenance supervisor (composite)
“I will keep my inventory spreadsheet until I trust the new numbers.”
Plant operations lead (composite)
“Training is scheduled two weeks before go-live, during our busiest maintenance window.”
Field services manager (composite)
Business value at risk
The benefits most likely to slip are the ones the business case depends on.
Each planned benefit is mapped to the conditions it relies on. Where those conditions are weak, we flag how much of that benefit is exposed. This is how the scan connects people risk to the return leaders were promised.
Executive action priorities
Three decisions that cannot wait.
The scan ends with choices, not a long list of observations. Each decision has a recommended owner and a date that keeps it ahead of the next milestone.
Make adoption part of the go-live decision
Add three measurable adoption criteria to the go or no-go checklist alongside the technical ones.
Name an owner for operational readiness
Assign one business leader, not the project team, to own readiness in Plant Operations and Maintenance.
Fund super-user backfill for six weeks
Free experienced staff to support peers through cutover instead of covering their day jobs.
30-day action plan
| Action | Condition | Owner | Timing | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Map future-state workflows and approval paths for the two highest-risk units | Workflow and role clarity | Operations leaders | Weeks 1 to 3 | Critical |
| Give managers a “what changes for my team” briefing kit | Workforce trust and readiness | HR and change lead | Weeks 1 to 2 | Critical |
| Move field services training out of the peak maintenance window | Enablement and support | Training lead | Week 2 | High |
| Define post-go-live adoption measures and who reviews them | Measurement and sustainment | Finance and PMO | Weeks 2 to 4 | High |
| Use sponsors to explain the “why” directly to plant teams | Leadership and purpose | Executive sponsors | Weeks 2 to 4 | Sustain |
How this sample was produced
Ten business days from kickoff to readout.
Every Risk Scan follows the same four steps, so leaders get comparable evidence quickly without turning the work into a long study.
Scan
Leader interviews, document review, and a short pulse across the five conditions.
Analyze
Find the gaps, cross-check signals, and trace each risk to the benefits it threatens.
Synthesize
Turn evidence into a short list of decisions and priorities.
Advance
Executive readout, decision discussion, and agreed next steps.
What would your evidence package show?
If a go-live, a funding decision, or a hard question from the board is coming, a Risk Scan gives you independent evidence in seven to ten business days.
In 20 minutes we’ll talk through your program, and you’ll leave with at least one risk worth a closer look.
This sample is illustrative. Northgate Energy is a fictional organization, quotes are composites, and all figures are invented to show the format and depth of a Change Navigators Executive Evidence Package. Your report reflects your own organization and data.