When it fits
Discovery may follow a Clarity Session, or begin directly when we already know that the question requires broader understanding.
Complex organizational questions rarely belong to one category. Technology, workflow, culture, cost, risk, history, and differing definitions of success often interact.
Typical scope and timing
A Discovery Engagement typically lasts two to four weeks. It begins with a scoping conversation and concludes with a written synthesis and a 90-minute facilitated working session.
The scope identifies the people, materials, and systems most important to understanding the question. Delivery may be remote, in person, or hybrid.
What discovery might include
- Conversations with people who see the situation differently
- Review of relevant documents, plans, proposals, or technology
- Previous decisions and how they worked out
- Goals and definitions of success
- Constraints, dependencies, and competing priorities
- Assumptions shaping the conversation
Then we come back together
After gathering context, I step away long enough to synthesize patterns, questions, tensions, trade-offs, and perspectives that may deserve more attention.
Then we test them together. I may offer an informed recommendation or help distill one from what the group has discovered. I can facilitate the decision, but the decision remains yours.
What you receive
- A concise written synthesis
- Important observations and patterns
- Questions worth pursuing
- Assumptions or tensions to examine
- Relevant alternatives or trade-offs
- A facilitated working session
What it is not
Discovery is not an audit, a search for faults, or an elaborate sales process. We look for insights, relationships, and opportunities—not someone to blame.
It should create value even if our work ends there.
Fee and scope
Discovery has a fixed project fee based on the agreed scope. The scope and fee are provided in writing before work begins.
Any expansion is discussed and agreed before additional work begins. There are no implied commitments to further work.