The UK’s Government Digital Service (GDS) championed this mantra: The strategy is delivery. This mantra comes up over and over again in the civic tech and data space. Well, based on over a decade of working in government transformation, I don’t think it’s enough. Yes delivery matters. But at the same time, if you only focus on delivery, you eventually end up with a series of projects that will be orphaned then absorbed by the infinite complexity of a large organization. That’s why you must strategically design not only your team's portfolio but your own trajectory in government service.