Definition:
A delivery that goes on and on, but never quite reaches a conclusion.
Explanation:
I must admit that this is partially borrowed from Rory Sutherland, who has used the word “tantric” in the context of sectors. However, you often see tantric deliveries in projects, particularly regulatory or administrative projects.
A tantric delivery is a project that continues for an extended period but never reaches its climax. It often feels this way because no one is willing to take responsibility, take ownership, or sign off on anything. Instead, the project becomes trapped in increasingly fine-grained paperwork, approvals and process steps.
Also such projects can be caused because of never-ending scope creep or a set of deliverables that change faster than they can be delivered upon
As a result, the delivery never seems to get past its final set of bottlenecks or goes live. It is always nearly finished, always close to being signed off, and always somehow still not delivered.
Disclaimer: As always these posts are not aimed at anyone client or employer and are just my personal observations over a lifetime of dealing with both management and frontline associates.