Long diagnostics feel thorough. In practice, they give the organisation time to defend its assumptions and give the consultants time to fall in love with their own analysis.

Week one: listen widely

We run forty to sixty short interviews across every level, from the executive team to the front line, and rebuild the core numbers from source systems rather than management packs.

Week two: test hard

Each emerging hypothesis is tested with the people closest to the work. Most do not survive, and that is the point.

Speed forces you to choose what matters. Time lets you avoid choosing.

Week three: write one page

The output is a one-page problem statement with three to five ranked root causes. If it does not fit on a page, we are not finished.