"The Airport Model™" Article #2: The Delivery Chain Reaction Reveals: 70% of Failure is Systemic

Shlomi Ozalvo
Dec 16, 2025
3 min read

Updated: 20 hours ago

Introduction: The Myth of the Star Pilot

Imagine a crash investigation team arrives at your airport. In the past year, five flights (projects) have crashed or landed with dramatic delays. After a thorough investigation, the team concludes: "The pilots were skilled, and protocols were followed, but there is a critical issue: the Control Tower is overwhelmed, and the organizational culture is disrupting airport operations."

Would you retrain the five pilots, or would you fix the system? This is the choice facing every organization. As long as we focus on improving the individual performance of the "Pilots" (Project Managers), we will continue to ignore the decisive data: 70% of project delivery failure is strategic and systemic.

The Delivery Keynote:

"Prioritization is the gatekeeper; without it, you overwhelm your Capacity, drain your Efficiency, and ultimately sabotage your Execution."

The Airport Model™: The Chain Reaction

The impact levels of each component (40/30/20/10) are not based on mere theory, but on the "Strategy-Execution Gap"—the central failure identified by PMI and Gartner research. The model distinguishes between Doing the Right Projects (Strategic Selection) and Doing Projects Right (Efficient Tactical Management).

The model defines a direct causal link: each element in the chain constitutes the "ceiling of capability" for the one below it. Failure Upstream creates an inevitable chain reaction that fatally damages performance Downstream.

“The Airport Model™” Chain Reaction — "Prioritization is the gatekeeper; without it, you overwhelm your Capacity, drain your Efficiency, and ultimately sabotage your Execution."

Analytical Analysis: How Upstream Failure Limits Success

1. The Control Tower (40%) – Prioritization and the Gatekeeper

The Role: Project Portfolio Management (PPM) and Strategic Alignment control. This is the most influential factor, focused on selecting the right projects. It is the only mechanism that ensures investments are directed toward maximum Strategic Value.
The Chain Reaction (Upstream): When the Control Tower is flawed, it approves the wrong projects or creates a workload that exceeds the system’s absorption capacity.
The Outcome: Overcapacity immediately paralyzes the organization's ability to provide support. A failure at the 40% level dictates that the rest of the chain will operate under heavy "Management Debt," as the organization is flooded and cannot support execution due to a lack of active executive sponsorship and Synergy.

2. The Airport (30%) – Organizational Capability

The Role: Creating the infrastructure and a supportive execution environment. Research shows that active executive sponsorship alone is the strongest predictor of organizational delivery success.
The Chain Reaction: As a result of prioritization failure, the organization suffers from instability and chronic "Firefighting." This creates "Matrix Failure," where managers cannot recruit resources on time or leadership bypasses the Control Tower, undermining order.
The Outcome: Instability renders any Methodology (Agile or Waterfall) useless. No process can survive when teams are forced to jump between too many tasks (High WIP).

3. The Aircraft (20%) – Execution Platform Efficiency

The Role: Stability and transparency through governance and project management maturity. This platform only operates efficiently after the right projects have been selected and provided with a supportive environment.
The Chain Reaction: When the execution platform (the Aircraft) is flawed or operates in chaos, it fails to provide accurate data.
The Outcome: Failure in measurement and execution. The Control Tower makes decisions based on flawed data, governance collapses, and projects are managed with a "Broken Dashboard."

4. The Pilot (10%) – Execution

The Role: Tactical leadership, risk management, and field-level decision-making (Project Manager).
The Chain Reaction (Downstream): The Project Manager is the final link. When 90% of the chain above them is in deviation, their influence is stifled by systemic failures.
The Outcome: Tactical survival mode. Investing in the 10% of elements without addressing the chain above them leads to Diminishing Marginal Utility.

The Bottom Line: Delivery Fails Due to the Systemic 70%

The Chain Reaction diagram clearly illustrates: the three systemic components—PPM, Organization, and Execution Platform—determine the boundaries of success. 70% of success lies in the organization's ability to select and prioritize projects and create a supportive environment.

If you want real delivery improvement, stop focusing solely on training new pilots and start institutionalizing a resilient ecosystem based on proper prioritization and true organizational capability.