Action Velocity
Plans state intentions; velocity states facts. Action velocity is the observed rate at which open readiness actions and verifications actually close — the most honest signal of whether a target date is realistic.
Behaviour beats status colours
A static traffic light says where an item stands today. Velocity says how the whole system moves: closures per week, deadline adherence, and the trend over trailing windows. An organisation closing two actions a week with sixty open items has a different September than its dashboard colour suggests.
Because velocity is measured from an append-only event log — every status change, closure and creation is recorded — it cannot be gamed by re-labelling items.
From velocity to forecast
Velocity feeds the readiness forecast directly: open items divided by observed closure rate yields the projected ready date, stress-tested in Accelerated and Delay scenarios. It also yields the inverse, equally useful number: the required velocity to still hit the target date.