VectorOptionTimeline

Mechanism

Alongside the preferred path, draw the options that leave it: each with a decision point (a diamond), the alternative path it opens, its expected timeline under uncertainty and its activation cost. Decision points represent the project's intrinsic complexity; uncertainty in timelines represents extrinsic complexity such as other teams' availability. As the project nears a decision point, short-range information about the option's real value and cost becomes reliable, and the manager explicitly decides whether to activate it, in which case it becomes part of the preferred path, as a WeatherAgent decides whether to move. This keeps the ResourceShapeSeparation: resource forecasts stay long-range while the path within them can change. Zooming out never removes options: what one level treats as a non-negotiable milestone is, one level of authority up, a preferred option among others.