Hey Reader,

We recently had a live issue…

One of our developers made a change directly on production without following the agreed change approval process.

No CAB. (Change Advisory Board)

No client approval.

No communication. 😩

The change unintentionally disrupted the client’s single sign-on for their CMS.

The public website stayed up.

But internally, their team couldn’t log in for around four hours.

Whilst not a major incident, it was serious enough.

And in those moments, governance matters.

But leadership matters more.

When we were notified, we immediately brought the team together.

I asked three questions:

• What happened?
• Why did it happen?
• Where did the process break down?

The root cause wasn’t complexity or something technical. It was discipline.

There was no communication before the change was made.

Governance exists to prevent exactly this.

But governance only works when people follow it.

1. Step one: slow everything down

Under pressure, your instinct can be defensive.

Instead, we did three things immediately:

• We gathered facts, not assumptions
• We documented exactly what changed and when
• We clarified the impact in plain language

No minimising. No over-explaining. Just accuracy.

2. Step 2: Inform the client.

We explained:

• What happened
• Why it happened
• The exact timeframe of the disruption
• The specific internal actions taken to prevent recurrence

And we apologised.

Ownership diffuses tension faster than defensiveness ever will.

Governance failed, but leadership couldn’t.

After the internal review, we reinforced:

• No production changes without CAB approval
• No stage changes without communication
• No assumptions about what “should be fine”

The process isn’t there to slow delivery down.

It protects trust.

But here’s the important part:

Even strong governance frameworks can fail if discipline slips.

When that happens, leadership shows up in how you respond.

- You don’t hide.

- You don’t shift blame.

- You don’t wait to be chased.

You act quickly.

Communicate clearly.

And own the outcome.

3. Step 3: The call that mattered

I offered the client a same-day call, a space for them to ask questions or comment on the information we shared.

We reiterated what happened and what we’d changed internally. They appreciated the transparency and wanted to move forward.

The relationship wasn’t damaged.

Not because the issue wasn’t serious.

But because trust was prioritised immediately.

Trust isn’t preserved by perfection.

It’s preserved by accountability.

For PMs and senior leaders - issues “WILL” happen.

Developers are human.

Processes break under pressure.

Assumptions slip in.

Your role is not to pretend mistakes won’t occur.

Your role is to:

• Build governance that reduces risk
• Create a culture where process is respected
• Step forward immediately when something goes wrong
• Communicate before being asked
• Show the client you are in control of the situation

Leadership isn’t loud, especially when under pressure.

Many PM content creators focus on how to be good when everything is going well. I will always share stories about where things go wrong and how you can still lead in those moments.

I’ve found that those moments play a significant part in building relationships with your clients.

They want a partner that does a great job, but when things go wrong (which they know they will), they want a partner they can trust to take them through it.

Have a blessed week.

Yom

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