Smallest useful response
Improve the existing workflow or software before adding a heavier system.
The diagnostic method
Understand the work before changing the system.
An operating problem often arrives disguised as a tool request: a dashboard, an automation, an AI assistant. The Diagnostic separates the visible request from the underlying constraint before a solution is recommended.
From signal to decision
Four connected views of the same problem.
01 / SignalDefine one bounded problemRecent example + consequence
02 / EvidenceReconstruct the current workPeople + tools + decisions + handoffs
03 / ConstraintIdentify what limits progressRoot cause + dependencies + risk
04 / DecisionRecommend the smallest useful changeProceed + condition + hold + stop
Three controls
What keeps the recommendation practical.
Visible reasoning
Separate facts, assumptions, unknowns and stop conditions so the decision can be reviewed.
Human-owned decisions
AI may help organize and test the analysis. Business and high-stakes decisions remain human-owned.
Possible outcomes
A recommendation can be smaller than the original request.
- Clarify ownership and operating rules.
- Improve an existing workflow.
- Configure or replace standard software.
- Prepare data or controls before automation.
- Run a focused workflow micro-sprint.
- Design a Business Command Center Sprint.
- Hold or stop until a dependency is resolved.
Start with one example
What keeps getting lost, delayed or repeated?
Describe one operating problem and one recent example. Do not send confidential records or access credentials.