Diagnose
Name the actual structural constraint before proposing anything.
The problem a founder brings is rarely the problem driving it. The diagnostic phase separates the visible symptom from the constraint underneath it, using the business's own data and structured conversations with the people closest to the work. It ends with a written finding, not a proposal.
- Runs personally with the founder, not handed to a junior consultant.
- Uses existing records rather than waiting for a clean dataset.
- Ends in a named constraint and a priority order, in writing.
