The HPWT Sponsor Lens

Cooper Lee

— 2 min read

A recurring frame for executives accountable for outcomes, not activity

  • What assumptions in this project are irreversible?
  • Who can stop this initiative without explanation?
  • What risks would never appear on a dashboard?
  • If this failed tomorrow, what would I wish I had challenged earlier?

Sponsors can apply this lens explicitly (as a section) or implicitly (woven into narrative). It works across countries, industries, and project types.

1. Power Reality Check

Who can stop this project without explanation?

Sponsor questions

  • Who holds de facto veto power?
  • Are they visible, distracted, exposed, or silent?
  • Do they benefit personally if the project succeeds—or if it fails?

Narrative signal to look for

  • Decisions delayed “for no clear reason”
  • Senior absences explained as “timing”
  • Authority that exists only through intermediaries

HPWT theme #1

Formal approval is not the same as real authority.

2. Irreversibility Test

Which early decisions cannot be undone later?

Sponsor questions

  • What assumptions will harden into constraints?
  • What is being treated as “temporary” that may become permanent?
  • What would be politically impossible to reverse once announced?

Narrative signal

  • “We’ll fix that later”
  • “This is just a starting point”
  • Heavy investment before governance clarity

HPWT theme #2

Projects fail when reversible decisions are mistaken for flexible ones.

3. Momentum Bias Scan

Is progress masking uncertainty?

Sponsor questions

  • Are we moving faster because things are clear—or because stopping feels costly?
  • Who benefits from continued motion?
  • When was the last time someone was rewarded for slowing this down?

Narrative signal

  • Rising spend with falling challenge
  • Escalation framed as “confidence”
  • Risk registers that grow quieter over time

HPWT theme #3

Momentum feels like certainty. It is often the opposite.

4. Governance vs Culture Gap

Where does governance end and culture begin?

Sponsor questions

  • What cultural norms override process?
  • Where does saving face matter more than accuracy?
  • What truths are shared privately but not recorded?

Narrative signal

  • Information disclosed “off-line”
  • Reputational anxiety around bad news
  • Local leaders buffering reality from HQ

HPWT theme #4

Governance charts do not survive first contact with culture.

5. Personal Risk Exposure

Whose personal downside exceeds the project’s upside?

Sponsor questions

  • Who would be embarrassed, investigated, or weakened by success?
  • Who becomes visible if this proceeds?
  • Who loses control?

Narrative signal

  • Sudden caution at the top
  • Legal reviews appearing late
  • Projects frozen due to “external matters”

HPWT theme #5

When personal risk enters the room, strategy leaves.

6. Information Safety Test

Is it safe to tell the truth here?

Sponsor questions

  • Who brings bad news—and what happens to them?
  • Who stays silent, and why?
  • What truths arrive late?

Narrative signal

  • Resignations offered instead of explanations
  • Anxiety around escalation
  • Over-politeness replacing clarity

HPWT theme #6

Silence is the most dangerous project risk.

7. Exit Ownership

Who has the authority to stop this cleanly?

Sponsor questions

  • Is there an explicit stop decision—or only exhaustion?
  • What would trigger a pause?
  • Who owns the decision to cancel?

Narrative signal

  • Projects drifting rather than ending
  • “Too big to fail” language
  • Failure rebranded as delay

HPWT theme #7

Ending a project is a sponsor decision, not a delivery failure.

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