You Wrote the Exit Criteria. You Never Aimed at Them.

You can write the exit criteria down, keep them current, and still never move. Not because the number is wrong. Because the work you are supposed to be leaving keeps showing up, and every time you take it, the decision is correct. Real revenue, real client need, real competence. The trap is not one bad decision. It is a series of good ones. What You Will Take AwayA target with no active work against it is a wish with a number on it.Criteria only fire if you are doing the work that generates the trigger.Scaffolding is not a compromise. The failure is not knowing when it comes down.Scaffolding generates its own demand, and every yes to it is individually defensible.The cost stays invisible because it arrives as revenue instead of as lost hours.Episode 004 was the system training itself to rely on you. This is the reverse.Who This Is ForEngineers who took a lead title and still own four deep technical deliverables.Anyone who wrote down what would trigger a change and never checked whether they were aiming at it.Engineers spending more energy deciding which role they are in today than doing either job.Anyone whose calendar is set by the work they said they were transitioning out of. Follow Re:Engineered wherever you get your podcasts.Send us Fan MailRe:Engineered is a podcast for engineers and technical professionals navigating the shift from technical excellence to leadership responsibility.Hosted by Chris Stasiuk, a professional engineer with over 25 years in engineering consulting and leadership roles, the show treats leadership, communication, and decision-making as systems to understand — not personality traits to fake. No buzzwords. No corporate theater. Just clear thinking about how technical people actually lead.Explore episodes, transcripts, and related resources at https://chrisstasiuk.com/podcast/.