When Progress Depends on a Handoff

A useful lesson from project-based work: a stalled commitment doesn’t always need more willpower. Sometimes the next step belongs to someone else—or the handoff is still vague.

At your next check-in, write down the one next action and ask: Is it mine to do, or mine to clarify? If it depends on someone else, make the handoff concrete: name the question, agree who will follow up, and choose a date to check again. If it is yours but still feels unclear, shrink it until the first move is visible.

That small distinction can keep a project moving without turning every delay into a personal failure. Review it once next week: did the clearer handoff help, or is the commitment ready to pause?