Yesterday, during a customer meeting, the discussion unexpectedly moved from project documentation to health checkups.
The customer was reviewing his blood test report and confidently said:
"Doctor says my LLD is high, but HLD is also improving."
For a moment, my project management instincts kicked in.
LLD? Low-Level Design?
HLD? High-Level Design?
Then reality returned. He meant LDL and HDL.
But the accidental terminology crossover sparked an interesting thought: what if we interpreted a blood test report the way IT professionals interpret a project report?
Let's explore.
HDL (Good Cholesterol) = HLD (High-Level Design)
Every successful project starts with a strong High-Level Design.
It provides direction, structure, governance, and strategic clarity.
Similarly, HDL (High-Density Lipoprotein) is the "good cholesterol." It helps remove excess cholesterol from the bloodstream and keeps things running smoothly.
| Health World | Project World |
|---|---|
| HDL | HLD |
| Provides protection | Provides direction |
| Higher is generally better | Better HLD means fewer surprises |
| Prevents future problems | Prevents future rework |
Conclusion: A project with a solid HLD and a body with healthy HDL are both set up for long-term success.
LDL (Bad Cholesterol) = LLD Gone Wrong
Low-Level Design is essential.
However, excessive documentation, over-engineering, and unnecessary complexity can become project cholesterol.
LDL (Low-Density Lipoprotein) tends to accumulate where it shouldn't.
Similarly, poorly controlled LLDs tend to generate:
Excessive dependencies
Complicated workflows
Technical debt
Endless review meetings
| Health World | Project World |
|---|---|
| High LDL creates blockages | Excessive complexity creates bottlenecks |
| Restricts flow | Restricts progress |
| Requires intervention | Requires redesign |
Conclusion: Some LDL is necessary. Some LLD is necessary. Too much of either creates operational challenges.
Triglycerides = Pending Action Items
Every project has them.
Open tickets.
Pending approvals.
Unresolved risks.
Deferred decisions.
Individually harmless.
Collectively dangerous.
Just as elevated triglycerides indicate excess stored energy, a project overloaded with pending actions stores unfinished work that eventually slows delivery.
Blood Pressure = Project Pressure
A little pressure keeps things moving.
Too much pressure causes damage.
In medicine, sustained high blood pressure strains critical systems.
In projects, sustained management pressure leads to:
Burnout
Escalations
Quality issues
Resignations
Both doctors and project managers should remember:
Pressure is a metric, not a strategy.
Hemoglobin = Team Productivity
Hemoglobin carries oxygen.
Productive teams carry projects.
When hemoglobin levels are low, fatigue follows.
When team productivity is low, deadlines begin to drift.
In both cases, management's first reaction is usually the same:
"Let's investigate the root cause."
Vitamin D = Stakeholder Support
Everyone ignores it until it becomes a problem.
Projects with inadequate stakeholder support resemble people with Vitamin D deficiency:
Progress slows
Morale drops
Unexpected symptoms appear
Everyone wonders why things feel difficult
The prescription is remarkably similar:
Get more exposure.
HbA1c = Technical Debt Index
HbA1c doesn't tell you what happened yesterday.
It tells you what has been happening for months.
Technical debt behaves exactly the same way.
A project may appear healthy during a sprint review, but accumulated shortcuts eventually show up in architecture assessments just as HbA1c reveals long-term sugar management.
ECG = Project Audit
Nobody schedules one because they're excited.
They schedule one because they want assurance that everything is functioning correctly.
The findings are also similar:
Normal
Minor observations
Needs monitoring
Please come back immediately
Final Diagnosis
A healthy professional should monitor:
HDL
LDL
Blood Pressure
HbA1c
A healthy project should monitor:
HLD
LLD
Team Pressure
Technical Debt
And if a customer ever tells you that his LLD is high and HLD is improving, don't correct him immediately.
First ask:
"Are we discussing your health report or your project status report?"
Because in today's world, either answer could be correct.
