2026.20 Opportunity Costs Are Not the Same as the Costs of Delay

Jul 31, 2026

The Transcript:

This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for July 31, 2026, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress.

This is from the Continual Planning book.

When the portfolio team selects Project A, they miss the opportunity cost for Project B. That's because one team cannot work on two projects "at the same time." That's why every choice also has an opportunity cost.

But the opportunity cost does not cost real money. Opportunity Cost reflects the choices an organization makes. 

But the Cost of Delay does represent several literal costs. Real money that the company could use in other ways.