The backlog is the great shame of the public service. It fills staff with dread, leaders with pressure and clients with frustration. Every team that has one also tried to attack it - temporary resources, weekend sprints, heroic effort - and most have found it come right back, sometimes bigger than before.
That's because most backlog strategies treat the symptom, not the cause. Until you understand how a backlog forms, you can't stop one from forming again.
We break down the lifecycle of a backlog with a visual model that most public servants recognize immediately - because they are living it.