The Late Executive Entry Pattern

Here's a scenario that happens often—and creates challenges for everyone involved:

• Weeks 1-8: Your marketing manager and our team work closely together. Progress is smooth. Feedback is clear. Everyone understands what's being built and why.
• Week 9: A senior executive asks, "So how's this marketing thing going?"
• Week 10: The project is questioned, paused, or redirected—despite operational success.

What happened?

The executive entered late, evaluated the work without full context, and made a decision based on incomplete information.

Why Late Entry Creates Risk

1. Context Gap

The day-to-day contact has:

• Attended discovery calls
• Reviewed iterative work
• Seen problems solved in real-time
• Developed trust through consistent collaboration

The late-arriving executive has:

• A status update deck
• Surface-level metrics
• No exposure to the process

They're being asked to make a high-stakes decision with low-context information.

2. Different Evaluation Criteria