VS-15
Tribe Contribution Imbalance on Shared Initiative
Value Stream Graph
Default severity: medium
PrioritizationProcessOutputRisk
What it detects
In a shared initiative delivered by multiple tribes, one tribe\'s issues are significantly more advanced (higher Done%) than another tribe\'s — the advanced tribe will idle waiting for the lagging tribe, creating waste and artificial WIP.
Detection formula
FOR each_initiative I: FOR each_tribe T contributing to I: tribe_done_pct = COUNT(I.issues WHERE tribe=T AND status IN done) / COUNT(I.issues WHERE tribe=T) done_pcts = \[tribe_done_pct FOR each_tribe\] imbalance = MAX(done_pcts) - MIN(done_pcts) IF imbalance > config.graph.tribe_imbalance_threshold // default: 0.3 (30% gap) THEN FLAG tribe_contribution_imbalance Report: each tribe\'s done%, total issues, lagging tribe identityExamples in practice
- Dependency links or initiative graph paths are missing, cyclic, or blocked.
- Downstream work waits on unresolved upstream dependencies.
- A team shows in a shared initiative delivered by multiple tribes, one tribe\'s issues are significantly more advanced (higher done%) than another tribe\'s while tribe imbalance threshold is set to 0.3 (30% gap).
Suggested response
Repair dependency and initiative graph links so delivery paths and handoffs are explicit.
Coaching playbook
Symptom
In a shared initiative delivered by multiple tribes, one tribe\'s issues are significantly more advanced (higher Done%) than another tribe\'s — the advanced tribe will idle waiting for the lagging tribe, creating waste and artificial WIP.
Why it matters
When "Tribe Contribution Imbalance on Shared Initiative" keeps appearing, the team is signalling a repeatable process gap. Left unexamined, the pattern hides where work really stalls and makes improvement metrics harder to trust.
What you can achieve
Repair dependency and initiative graph links so delivery paths and handoffs are explicit.
Facilitation questions
- What system change would stop "Tribe Contribution Imbalance on Shared Initiative" from firing again?
- What do the cited issues have in common — same root cause or same workaround?
- Who owns the two-week experiment and how will we verify on the next import?
Run this rule against your own tracker data with Flow Analyzer.