Four questions that surface the structural reality of any system — so you can locate the governing break before diagnosis begins.
The scan is not the diagnosis. It is the orientation layer — the minimum structural read needed to locate the governing break before analysis begins. Most organisations are attempting to correct a failure their internal loops cannot reach. The scan is the first test of whether that is what is happening.
Answer all four honestly and you will know whether the failure is structural, and where to look first. Struggle to answer them — and that itself is diagnostic. Run the scan. Then send the brief.
This is the entry point into the diagnostic method. Difficulty answering any of the four questions is itself a diagnostic signal — it means something in the system's purpose or structure is not yet legible.
Not what it claims. What it actually exists to do.
The primitive — the smallest unit of real work. Every system repeats something. Point at it.
As they exist in practice, not in policy documents.
What breaks first, who notices, and who absorbs the cost. Failure is clarifying — watch for the workarounds.
Once you answer the four questions, the scan will surface where the rule failure is most likely sitting and what to examine before changing anything.
Scan → identify confusion → send brief → fit assessment
The scan is a self-screen, not the diagnosis itself. Once you have your answers, the path is simple.