What is Escalation (Escalation Path)?
Escalation is deliberately moving an issue, risk, or decision to a higher authority because it exceeds your own — in budget impact, cross-boundary reach, or political weight. A defined escalation path (who, at what threshold, how fast) turns it from an admission of failure into a designed control.
The judgment the exam tests relentlessly: escalate too early and you're delegating your own job upward; too late and leadership meets a crisis they could have met as a choice. The rule: exhaust your authority first, then escalate promptly, with options attached.
Worked example
A component PM discovers a vendor's license terms would breach the program's data-residency commitment. He can't change the vendor contract (procurement owns it) or the commitment (the board made it) — this is genuinely above him. He escalates the same week, with three options costed: switch vendors (+$400K), renegotiate hosting (+6 weeks), seek regulator approval (uncertain). Leadership decides in one meeting instead of discovering the breach at audit.