Whether each purchase request should be approved, by whom, and under what conditions.
This comes up again and again, which is what makes it a candidate for a system rather than a one-time exercise.
Potential is medium, and what most explains that is how often the decision is made. Readiness is medium, and what holds it back is how exceptions are handled. The most the system should do is recommend. The decision itself stays with a person. Recommended next move: Strengthen the case before investing in it.
Potential: Medium. What supports it: how often the decision is made, what a year of these decisions is worth, the cost of deciding late and the cost of getting it wrong.
Readiness: Medium. What supports it: whether decisions leave a trail and whether the criteria are written down. What holds it back: how exceptions are handled and whether the information is there.
The most the system should do here is recommend. The decision itself stays with a person. There is no governed route for the cases that fall outside the rules, so nothing should execute here until there is one.
What this decision falls on
The consequence of this decision falls on administrative effort and delay cost. The consequence has been named but not sized. The respondent places its magnitude at high.
What is in the way
There is no measured baseline to improve against
- how well the consequence is measured: identified
- the measured amount: not established
The information is spread across too many places
- how scattered the information is: high
- what the decision draws on: not established
There is no governed route for exceptions
- how exceptions are handled: whoever is around
It is not clear who answers for the outcome
- who owns the decision: shared between roles
Three questions for management
- What would it take to put a number on this, and who would have to agree it?
- How many places does someone have to look before they can decide?
- When an exception comes up, who decides, and does anyone find out afterwards?
Strengthen the case before investing in it
There is something here, but not yet enough to justify a decision system. Strengthen the case first.
Strengthening the case is what a Diagnostic does: it measures the baseline the Brief could only estimate, reconstructs the criteria that are still tacit, and establishes who owns the decision. The recommendation and the offer agree here — the method is not being bent to reach the CTA.
Based on the information provided by the respondent. This is an initial management assessment, not a full Decision System Diagnostic.
Calibration v0.1 · questionnaire questions-v0.2 · written without a narrator · content hash 330255c62ff5cb73