The priority count predicts failure better than budget, sponsor or sector.
Prior-year edition of the annual outcome study. Retained for cohort comparison.
The priority count predicts failure better than budget, sponsor or sector.
The first edition of the annual outcome study established the finding the series is built on: across 153 mid-market transformation programmes, the number of concurrent priorities predicted value delivery better than budget size, board sponsorship, sector or consulting spend. Programmes holding three or fewer priorities delivered a median 69% of their value case at month 24; programmes above six delivered 24%.
This edition is retained unaltered for cohort comparison. The 2026 edition (MKM-R-2026-014) extends the cohort to 214 programmes, re-bases the load exhibit, and isolates the effect of independent implementation oversight for the first time. Nothing stated here was withdrawn when the cohort grew, though the figures moved, and the later edition records where and by how much, which is the only reason a superseded edition is worth keeping on the site at all. Readers starting fresh should start there. Readers auditing the series should start here.
Median value delivery at month 24 for programmes holding three or fewer concurrent priorities, in the 2025 cohort.
Median value delivery for programmes running six or more priorities.
Programmes in the founding cohort, every one of them with an auditable month-0 baseline. Self-reported outcomes excluded.
Sectors in which the load effect failed to appear. The pattern held across all nine industries sampled. Coverage is not the same as depth. The industries are not represented in equal numbers.
Read the 2026 edition first for current figures; use this edition to audit how the series is constructed.
Note the cohort definitions in chapter 5. They are unchanged in later editions, which is what makes year-on-year comparison legitimate.
Treat the 69%/24% split as the conservative first estimate; the 2026 cohort sharpened it to 71%/22%.
Cite the edition you actually used. Superseded editions remain citable by design.
Markham Institute, The State of Mid-Market Transformation 2025, MKM-R-2025-012, v1.0 (June 2025). Superseded by MKM-R-2026-014.