Partners · Governance · Component
The escalation path
Where a problem goes when the owners cannot resolve it — named people, an agreed trigger, and a timescale.
The deliverable
What it is
Problems with nowhere to go accumulate quietly and surface as a decision to terminate. The escalation path is what prevents that accumulation.
It has to be agreed in advance, because escalating without an agreed route reads as going over someone’s head.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
The levels
Who sits at each level of escalation, on both sides.
3 attributes: Escalation contact · Side · Level
LearnThe trigger
What causes an escalation, agreed by both sides.
3 attributes: Trigger · After · Either side
LearnThe resolution record
What was escalated, and how it was resolved.
3 attributes: Issue · Resolution · Time to resolve
Learn
Use a time-based escalation trigger. A judgement-based one defers, which is the problem it was meant to solve.
The other components in governance
The relationship owners
One accountable person on each side — not a committee, not a mailbox, and not whoever negotiated the contract.
LearnThe meeting rhythm
How often the two sides meet, at what level, and what gets reviewed — set by the stakes rather than by habit.
Learn