How Organizations Lose Value Quietly
and How to See It Coming
ADVISORY ARTICLE
By Mehdi Kadaoui
Brussels, Belgium
1.0 Abstract
Most organizations declare success the moment a system goes live. But what happens next often tells a different story. Behavior shifts back to old patterns, workarounds creep in, and the outcomes everyone expected start to quietly unravel. The signals are there — they’re just not being tracked.
This article introduces Outcome Observability as a discipline designed to help organizations detect and respond to that post-go-live drift. It’s not about more dashboards or new KPIs. It’s about staying connected to the original intent of the transformation, long after the delivery phase ends.
Drawing on recognizable patterns, leadership shifts, and real cases, this article shows what Outcome Observability is, how it works in practice, and why it matters — especially for leaders who care about more than just going live on time. It’s for those who want to know: Did we actually realize the outcome we set out to achieve?
Because transformation doesn’t fail loudly. It fades if no one’s watching.
2.0 Introduction
Most transformations don’t fail on day one. They fail later…quietly, gradually, and often without a single moment of clear collapse.
The system goes live. The dashboard lights turn green. Executives applaud the delivery. Meanwhile, on the ground, something less visible is starting to happen.
Behavior begins to shift back. Adoption hesitates. Teams create workarounds. The new processes don’t quite land, or don’t hold. At first, these signals are small, too small to trigger alarms. But they grow.
And because everyone has already declared success, no one is looking for them.
Outcome Observability begins when the delivery teams step back, and someone needs to stay present. It’s the discipline of noticing when outcomes are starting to bend away from intent. Not through metrics alone, but through behavior. Not just in results, but in how people actually work, decide, and adapt.
Where most models end (at go-live) this approach begins.
What you’ll find in the pages ahead isn’t a toolkit or checklist. It’s a way of staying connected to what was promised, and a method for knowing whether it’s still unfolding… or quietly unraveling.
More…
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How to cite this work: Kadaoui, M. (2025). Outcome Observability: How Organizations Lose Value Quietly and How to See It Coming, PM World Journal, Vol. XIV, Issue X, October. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/pmwj157-Oct2025-Kadaoui-Outcome-Observability-advisory.pdf
About the Author
Mehdi Kadaoui
Brussels, Belgium
Mehdi Kadaoui is a senior IT and transformation leader with over 17 years of international experience delivering complex enterprise programs across Europe, the Middle East, and North America. His career spans global logistics, SaaS, telecom, and public sector environments, where he has consistently bridged the gap between strategy and execution to drive sustainable digital outcomes.
As a former director and transformation strategist for industry leaders such as DHL, Atlas Copco, Efficy, and Saudi Post Logistics, Mehdi has led ERP modernization, AI/analytics enablement, cloud-native migrations, and IT operating model redesigns. He is known for unifying cross-functional teams (IT, Data, Finance, CX) under shared governance models that enable real-time intelligence, compliance-by-design, and post–go-live value continuity.
Mehdi holds an Engineer’s Degree in Computer Science and a Master’s in Big Data & Systems Integration. He is PMP-certified, a Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), and holds cybersecurity and digital transformation credentials from ISC2 and Stanford University. He has also completed advanced SAP coursework and delivered operational excellence across SAP S/4HANA landscapes in the Americas and Europe.
A contributing writer for CIO.com, Mehdi publishes widely on structural drift, transformation governance, and post-go-live failure modes. He is the author of the “From Intent to Outcome” series—an independent body of work exploring semantic governance, business observability, and transformation integrity frameworks. His published frameworks (Project Semantix, Outcome Observability, Structural Agile) offer new ways to govern meaning, behavior, and value beyond traditional delivery models.
Mehdi is trilingual (French, English, Arabic), based in Brussels, and actively advises global enterprises on how to deliver not just systems, but strategic intent with integrity.
Contact at em.kadaoui@techevolve.be or From Intent to Outcome Canon
