Line of Sight

Line of sight connects detailed work and investment to organizational outcomes. FEAF v2’s Performance Reference Model uses this idea to make that relationship visible. Its 2013 Exhibit 300 discussion illustrates a scoped federal reporting requirement for links to agency goals, architecture, and performance measures. It is not a statement of current requirements for every proposal in every organization.

Make the proposed contribution inspectable

For an investment review, describe the output to be delivered, the outcome it is expected to affect, the strategic purpose, and the relevant ability on the business capability map. These are useful prompts for this application, not four mandatory links prescribed for every case. Explain the mechanism, supporting evidence, prerequisites, alternatives, and uncertainty. A shared data path might enable predictive maintenance, but data quality, model performance, and changed maintenance work must also support that outcome. Writing the chain does not prove its effect.

Strategic contribution can mean improving a weakness, extending a strength, maintaining an essential service, reducing exposure, or learning enough to choose a later investment. Match the evidence and measures to that purpose. The diagnosis and approach described by the strategy kernel provide context, while the proposal supplies assumptions that can be tested. A convincing narrative without evidence is still an unverified claim.

A portfolio can measure documentation coverage. For example, divide the next fiscal year’s proposed spending with an accepted rationale and measurement plan by all in-scope proposed spending, counting shared costs once. State the review criteria, period, and missing evidence. This is traceability coverage, not the share guaranteed to create value. benefits realization follows the claim through observations, attribution, costs, and review decisions. Ninety-Four Projects, Every One Approved applies it beside obligations and capacity; Eighty Diagrams and No Answer connects the supporting architecture views.

References:

• OMB, Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework Version 2 (2013), portfolio planning and Performance Reference Model