Computed health vs status updates

Asking owners to set a status is easy. It's also where truth goes to die. People mark green because they hope to catch up, because they don't want attention, or because nobody defined what yellow means.

The problem with self-reported RAG

Status updates optimize for looking fine in the meeting. They lag reality, vary by personality, and reset every week with no memory of last month's pattern.

What computed health uses instead

• Overdue commitments and tasks
• Silence — owned work with no recent activity
• Missed mandate revisit cadences
• Unowned or stalled work under an active mandate

Leaders still use judgment

Computed health is a signal, not a verdict. It tells you where to look. You still decide whether to coach, reassign, or retire scope — but you're not starting from "everyone said green."