The five questions
- Who pays, for what outcome, and how is that value delivered?
- How does a new customer move from first contact to paid work?
- Where do people wait, repeat work, re-enter information or make judgement calls?
- Which systems hold the records needed to understand the process?
- Who owns the process and can approve a change?
Northstar business snapshot
Northstar receives leads through a web form, phone and email. A sales coordinator copies the request into the CRM, asks suppliers about availability, then prepares a quote. The customer may wait two days. A salesperson follows up when they remember. This is a business narrative; it still needs records before it becomes a diagnosis.
Do not confuse a symptom with a process
“Our team is overloaded” is a symptom. “Quote requests are copied from inbox to CRM, then wait for stock confirmation before a salesperson sends a price” describes a process you can inspect. Start with the smallest process that connects to money, quality or material risk.
Business reading note Customer outcome: ____________________ Trigger: _____________________________ First human owner: ___________________ Systems involved: ____________________ Decision points: _____________________ Evidence available: __________________ Unknowns: ____________________________
Practical mission
Fill this note for Northstar's quote process. Mark any detail you cannot prove as unknown. A good assessment begins by protecting uncertainty instead of hiding it.