Building Capability

Tool: The Plateau Risk Assessment

Chapter: 11 — Don’t Let It Plateau
Purpose: Identify early whether your capability build is at risk of stalling — and put in place the structures that keep it moving.

How to Use This Tool

This tool is designed for use on an ongoing basis — ideally at your quarterly roadmap review. Use it to take an honest read of the current health of your capability build and catch plateau signals before they become a plateau.

The first time you use it, it may also help you see whether a plateau is already in progress.

At your quarterly review, try this: draw a quick updated version of your Business Landscape Map — or annotate the original. Which process overlays still look the same as when you started? Which have been transformed? If most overlays are unchanged after two or three releases, the build may be solving peripheral problems rather than the ones that matter most. A plateau often shows up in the map before it shows up in the metrics.

Allow 30 minutes.

Part 1: Plateau Signal Check

For each signal, mark whether it’s currently present in your organisation.

The Relief Problem

[ ] The immediate pain that drove the original investment has been resolved
[ ] The urgency that was driving investment has quietly reduced
[ ] Other priorities have re-emerged and are competing for budget and attention
[ ] The project sponsor who championed the original work has moved on or shifted focus

Roadmap Health

[ ] The roadmap review has been cancelled or postponed in the last quarter
[ ] There is no scheduled date for the next roadmap review
[ ] The roadmap hasn't been updated in more than three months
[ ] When people talk about the capability build, they mostly talk about what was built — not what's coming next

Team and User Signals

[ ] User feedback has slowed or stopped — the team isn't hearing suggestions or complaints
[ ] Most technical work is maintenance and bug fixes rather than new development
[ ] Users are working around the system rather than through it in some areas
[ ] The people who were most enthusiastic at the start are less engaged now

Investment and Ownership

[ ] There is no clear internal owner of the capability build's momentum
[ ] Budget for the next phase has not been confirmed
[ ] Leadership engagement with the capability build has decreased since the first phase
[ ] Decisions about the next phase are drifting without a clear owner to make them

Count of signals present: _____ / 16

0–3: Low plateau risk. Maintain your cadence and stay alert.
4–7: Moderate risk. Act on the signals you’ve identified before they compound.
8+: High risk. A plateau is either underway or imminent. Immediate action is needed.

Part 2: Opposite Risk — Building Too Fast

Check the opposite failure mode too.

[ ] Releases are arriving before the previous one has been fully adopted
[ ] Users are still on a learning curve from the last release when the next one launches
[ ] Help requests are still about basics from the current release
[ ] The team is in "build mode" but user feedback on what's already deployed is largely unresolved
[ ] Training for the current release is still in progress when development of the next starts
[ ] People are using workarounds around the new system rather than through it

Count of signals present: _____ / 6

0–1: Good balance.
2–3: Consider slowing the build cycle to allow better embedding of what’s been delivered.
4+: You’re building faster than the organisation can absorb. Pause new development until the current releases are genuinely embedded.

Part 3: The Growth Cycle Check

For each stage of the capability growth cycle, rate the current health (1 = poor, 5 = strong):

Design — Is there active thinking happening about the next phase? Is the roadmap being shaped by current knowledge of the business?

Score: ___
Notes:

Build — Is development progressing at a sensible pace? Is the team clear on what’s being built and why?

Score: ___
Notes:

Embed — Is existing capability genuinely being adopted? Are users getting what they need to use it well?

Score: ___
Notes:

Expand — Is the organisation extending what’s already embedded — to new users, new use cases, new departments?

Score: ___
Notes:

Overall growth cycle health: _____ / 20

If any single stage scores below 3, that stage needs specific attention — it will eventually become the bottleneck for the whole cycle.

Part 4: The Structure Check

Is there a recurring roadmap review scheduled?

[ ] Yes — quarterly or more frequent
[ ] Yes — but less than quarterly
[ ] No — reviews happen ad hoc

Is there a clear internal owner of the capability build’s momentum?

[ ] Yes — named, senior, with authority to make decisions
[ ] Partially — someone is involved but doesn't fully own it
[ ] No — ownership is diffuse or unclear

Does the investment model support ongoing momentum?

[ ] Yes — capability investment is a regular line item, not a one-off project approval
[ ] Partially — there's budget for the current phase but nothing confirmed beyond that
[ ] No — each phase requires a new approval from scratch

Part 5: Your Action List

Based on your assessment, what are the three most important things to address?

Action 1:
Who owns it:
By when:

Action 2:
Who owns it:
By when:

Action 3:
Who owns it:
By when:

Online Version

Want to go deeper?
The online version of this tool includes a full capability growth cycle health dashboard, a guide for running a quarterly roadmap review, a department budget model template, and a facilitation guide for restarting momentum after a plateau.
Available in the members area at [website]