Talk it through with Aurelius
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Aurelius · Work & Leadership
Knowledge + Guidance

Why does our program fall apart after year one?

You built something that works. It runs. People show up, the plan holds, this year is fine. That is real. Do not let anyone tell you it isn't. But you already feel the other thing — the tightening when you think about next year. One grant ends. One partner changes leadership. One person leaves and takes half of what everyone knew with them. The program you sustain today is not the program that survives three years from now, unless you change how it is built. This is not bad luck arriving later. It is a design flaw sitting in front of you right now. You cannot control who funds you next year. You can control whether the whole thing depends on one thread or on several. That part is yours.

◆ How this problem reads on the two dials
GuidanceKnowledge
More coaching
Some to learn
1:1 with AureliusWith others (a Pod)
Some one-to-one
Practise with peers
The team needs a few concrete practices for building redundancy, but mostly needs to act on what it already half-knows, so guidance leads.
How the two dials adapt to you →
What’s really going on

You do not have a funding problem. You have a dependence problem — on one grant, one champion, one story only you can tell. Name every thread holding this together. Then choose: build a second source of support now, write down why this work matters, and test the whole thing once a year.

🔒 What you’ll build togetherUnlock by starting
A moveList every dollar and every yes keeping this program alive — write them down, one by one, with names attached.
A moveAsk which of those disappears if one specific person leaves or changes their mind. Mark those in red.
A moveChoose one new source of support to pursue this quarter, before you need it, not after the old one is gone.
A moveWrite the case for this program in plain words — why it matters, what it does — so someone new could pick it up without you in the room.
A moveSet one date a year where the group asks together: does this still deserve to exist, and does it still depend on too few people?
PractiseDependency Map · a Pod of 5 · 30 min

What changes unlock by starting

  • The team can name every dependency the program has, out loud, without flattering itself
  • A written case for the program exists that does not rely on any one person telling the story
  • At least one new source of support is identified and actively pursued
  • A yearly review habit is in place, owned by the group and not just one leader

Related problems

The same struggle, seen by other coaches
One object, two jobs: a public answer to a real problem, and — the moment you start the chat — Aurelius’s live plan for your version of it.