testland/exec-quality-narrative
Build-an-X workflow that turns already-computed quality data - weekly digests, KPI roll-ups, DORA delivery metrics, escape-defect trends, OKR grading - into an executive or QBR narrative structured by the Minto Pyramid Principle: governing answer first, MECE-grouped support beneath it, SCQA opening (Barbara Minto, The Pyramid Principle, ISBN 978-0273710516). Distinct from single-team digest computation (which computes the RAG digest from raw CI and tracker signals; this skill consumes such digests and writes the upward story), from portfolio-review aggregation (which aggregates teams into a portfolio review; this skill is the communication layer either output feeds), and from QA OKR authoring (forward-looking commitments; this skill narrates what happened and what it means). Use before a QBR, board update, or exec review when the data exists but the story does not.
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dora-metrics.mdreferences/
DORA software delivery metrics - verbatim definitions
Executives increasingly hear DORA terms from engineering leadership, so use them precisely. As of current guidance, DORA defines five software delivery metrics, evolved "from the original four keys to the current five-metric model", grouped as throughput and instability (https://dora.dev/guides/dora-metrics-four-keys/, fetched 2026-06-10).
Throughput
- Change lead time: "the amount of time it takes for a change to go from committed to version control to deployed in production".
- Deployment frequency: "the number of deployments over a given period or the time between deployments".
- Failed deployment recovery time: "the time it takes to recover from a deployment that fails and requires immediate intervention".
Instability
- Change fail rate: "the ratio of deployments that require immediate intervention following a deployment".
- Deployment rework rate: "the ratio of deployments that are unplanned but happen as a result of an incident in production".
Notes for the narrative
- The original set was "the four keys"; failed deployment recovery time is the renamed recovery metric. If leadership still says "the four keys", name the rename rather than silently mixing old and new labels.
- Deployment frequency and change fail rate travel best into an exec narrative: they need only deployment records and incident flags. Change lead time and failed deployment recovery time depend on commit and incident conventions, so mark them partial rather than guessing.
- Escape-defect rate is a defect-leakage metric, not a DORA metric. Keep it beside the DORA figures, never inside them, or one informed exec follow-up sinks the room's trust.