Radar Ring Semantics
The meaning attached to each ring of a technology radar, which determines whether it guides decisions or merely lists opinions.
A radar works because each ring carries a specific instruction, not a sentiment. Where the rings are vague, the radar becomes a list of things people find interesting.
The conventional four, stated as instructions: Adopt — use this by default for new work; deviation needs a reason. Trial — worth using in a project that can absorb the risk, with someone accountable for reporting back. Assess — worth understanding and experimenting with; not for production commitments. Hold — do not start anything new with this; existing use continues but does not expand.
Two properties that distinguish a useful radar from a published preference:
Hold is the most valuable ring and the least used. Naming what to stop starting is the decision that actually changes behaviour, and it is politically harder than recommending something new — which is why most radars are a list of enthusiasms.
Each entry carries a rationale. Without it, movement between rings looks arbitrary and the radar is distrusted.
And it must be revised on a cadence — typically twice a year — with movement between rings visible. A radar published once and never updated is a snapshot of a moment, and it will be quoted years later as though it were current.