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A level in the framework

Components

A concrete deliverable or mechanism within a module — something that exists afterwards which did not exist before.

The concept

What a component is

Components are where the framework stops describing and starts producing. A purpose statement, an exclusion list, an ownership record: each is a thing you could point at, file somewhere, and hand to someone.

This is also the level that connects to the folder structure. A component with no home is a component that will be recreated by the next person who needs it.

Telling it apart

Where the level begins and ends

Above against modules

A module is how you work; a component is what the work leaves behind. The same module usually produces several.

Below against elements

A component is made of elements. If the thing is a part of a document rather than the document, it is an element.

The test

Does it belong here?

  1. Could you file it?

    A component has a location. If there is nowhere it could be stored, it is not a component.

  2. Did it exist before?

    The test of a deliverable is that something is different afterwards. An intention does not pass it.

In the framework

Examples

  • The purpose statement
  • The exclusion list
  • The ownership record
  • The objective set

The honest test is whether you could hand it to someone. Components you cannot hand over are usually intentions with a noun for a name.

The library

Every component in the framework

603 components in all. Three per module, grouped by the module they belong to.

Goal Core · Purpose · Reason for being3

  • The purpose statementGoal Core · Purpose · Reason for beingOne sentence, agreed and dated, saying why the organisation exists. The single artefact the whole module exists to produce.
  • The laddering recordGoal Core · Purpose · Reason for beingThe chain of answers that led to the statement — the argument for it, and the fastest way to re-derive it later.
  • The refusal testGoal Core · Purpose · Reason for beingA short list of things the organisation has declined, or would decline, because of this purpose. If the list is empty, the statement is not doing work.

Goal Core · Purpose · Stakeholder rationale3

  • The stakeholder mapGoal Core · Purpose · Stakeholder rationaleThe named groups the organisation has taken on, with how much each is affected and how much influence each holds.
  • Value statement per groupGoal Core · Purpose · Stakeholder rationaleOne line for each group: what it gets from the organisation existing, stated concretely enough that the group could confirm or deny it.
  • The conflict registerGoal Core · Purpose · Stakeholder rationaleThe known tensions between stakeholder groups, and the standing decision about how each is resolved.

Goal Core · Purpose · Alignment3

  • Decision gatesGoal Core · Purpose · AlignmentThe named points in existing processes where the purpose test is applied — the moments where the organisation binds itself to something.
  • The cascade recordGoal Core · Purpose · AlignmentThe traceable line from purpose down to this quarter’s work — how the statement translates into the goals beneath it.
  • The alignment reviewGoal Core · Purpose · AlignmentAn annual note on what the purpose test actually changed, and what it failed to catch.

Goal Core · Purpose · Integrity3

  • The evidence auditGoal Core · Purpose · IntegrityRecent decisions read backwards to infer the purpose they imply — the enacted purpose, as opposed to the stated one.
  • The external readGoal Core · Purpose · IntegrityWhat people outside the organisation say it appears to be for — from customers, new joiners and those who have left.
  • The gap logGoal Core · Purpose · IntegrityThe differences found between stated and enacted purpose, each marked as being closed, tolerated, or not yet decided.

Goal Core · Short term goals · Quarterly objectives3

  • The objective setGoal Core · Short term goals · Quarterly objectivesThree to five written objectives for the quarter, each with an owner — few enough that they can all be named from memory.
  • The measure per objectiveGoal Core · Short term goals · Quarterly objectivesOne indicator per objective that will settle whether it was met — agreed before the quarter starts.
  • The review recordGoal Core · Short term goals · Quarterly objectivesThe end-of-quarter scoring with the reasoning behind it — the input to the next set rather than a report on the last one.

Goal Core · Short term goals · Milestones3

  • The milestone scheduleGoal Core · Short term goals · MilestonesThe dated checkpoints across a piece of work, placed against what each one resolves rather than at even intervals.
  • Completion criteriaGoal Core · Short term goals · MilestonesWhat has to be true to pass each milestone, agreed and recorded before the work begins.
  • The go / no-go recordGoal Core · Short term goals · MilestonesThe decision taken at each checkpoint and the reasoning behind it — the only way to tell later whether a project failed or was allowed to continue too long.

Goal Core · Short term goals · Quick wins3

  • The candidate listGoal Core · Short term goals · Quick winsEverything that could plausibly land early, before filtering — the raw pool the selection is made from.
  • Selection criteriaGoal Core · Short term goals · Quick winsThe written test each candidate has to pass: early, unambiguous, attributable, and serving the goal.
  • The visibility planGoal Core · Short term goals · Quick winsWho hears about each win, through what channel, and when. An unannounced win is not a win for this purpose.

Goal Core · Short term goals · Leading indicators3

  • The indicator setGoal Core · Short term goals · Leading indicatorsThe chosen leading measures, each paired with the lagging outcome it is meant to predict.
  • The causal assumptionGoal Core · Short term goals · Leading indicatorsThe stated reason for believing the leading measure actually leads to the outcome — written down so it can be tested rather than merely believed.
  • The tracking cadenceGoal Core · Short term goals · Leading indicatorsHow often each indicator is read and by whom — frequent enough to act on, rare enough to mean something.

Goal Core · Long term goals · Long-range ambition3

  • The ambition statementGoal Core · Long term goals · Long-range ambitionOne sentence naming the destination and the year — specific enough to recognise on arrival, distant enough that the route is not yet designed.
  • The arrival testGoal Core · Long term goals · Long-range ambitionWhat would have to be observably true for the ambition to count as reached — written now, so it cannot be redefined later.
  • The confidence noteGoal Core · Long term goals · Long-range ambitionA recorded sense of how likely the ambition is, so that later optimism or despair can be compared against the starting view.

Goal Core · Long term goals · Growth horizons3

  • The horizon mapGoal Core · Long term goals · Growth horizonsCurrent initiatives sorted into three horizons: defending the core, building what is next, and keeping options open.
  • The allocationGoal Core · Long term goals · Growth horizonsThe agreed share of resource going to each horizon, and who signs off on changing it.
  • Measures per horizonGoal Core · Long term goals · Growth horizonsThe distinct standard each horizon is judged by — return on the near one, learning on the middle, optionality on the far.

Goal Core · Long term goals · Direction of growth3

  • The growth splitGoal Core · Long term goals · Direction of growthThe expected contribution to the ambition from each direction — existing offers to existing markets, new offers, new markets, or genuinely new ground.
  • The risk ratingGoal Core · Long term goals · Direction of growthA stated view of how proven each direction is for this business, as distinct from how proven it is in general.
  • The learning listGoal Core · Long term goals · Direction of growthWhat has to be found out before each direction can be relied on — the questions the plan currently assumes are already answered.

Goal Core · Long term goals · Assumptions and scenarios3

  • The assumption registerGoal Core · Long term goals · Assumptions and scenariosThe stated conditions the goal depends on, each marked for how certain and how important it is.
  • The scenario setGoal Core · Long term goals · Assumptions and scenariosTwo or three described futures built from the critical uncertainties — enough detail that you could tell which one you were in.
  • SignpostsGoal Core · Long term goals · Assumptions and scenariosThe early indicators that would tell you which scenario is arriving, and who is watching for them.

Goal Core · Tactical goals · Cascade and catchball3

  • The cascade briefGoal Core · Tactical goals · Cascade and catchballThe goal as sent down, with the reasoning behind it — not just the number, because a team cannot counter-propose without knowing the problem.
  • The counter-proposalsGoal Core · Tactical goals · Cascade and catchballWhat each team said it could commit to, and what it would need — the half of the cascade that carries the new information.
  • The agreed commitmentGoal Core · Tactical goals · Cascade and catchballThe final version, with a record of what changed during the negotiation — a commitment rather than a target.

Goal Core · Tactical goals · Initiatives3

  • The initiative briefGoal Core · Tactical goals · InitiativesOne page: what it is, what exists at the end, and which goal it serves.
  • The dependency listGoal Core · Tactical goals · InitiativesWhat must be in place first, inside or outside the team — usually what determines when the work can actually start.
  • The definition of doneGoal Core · Tactical goals · InitiativesThe agreed test for completion, written before the work starts.

Goal Core · Tactical goals · Ownership3

  • The ownership recordGoal Core · Tactical goals · OwnershipOne named owner per goal, dated and confirmed — not a team, not a role, and not two people.
  • The responsibility splitGoal Core · Tactical goals · OwnershipWho is accountable, who does the work, who is consulted and who is only informed.
  • The escalation pathGoal Core · Tactical goals · OwnershipWhere the owner goes when the goal is blocked by something outside their authority.

Goal Core · Tactical goals · Resourcing3

  • The resource estimateGoal Core · Tactical goals · ResourcingPeople-weeks, money and any external dependency, stated before commitment.
  • The capacity checkGoal Core · Tactical goals · ResourcingWhat the named owner and team are already carrying, and what this displaces.
  • The funding decisionGoal Core · Tactical goals · ResourcingA recorded yes or no, with the trade-off it implied. Leaving a goal on the list unfunded is the third option and the worst.

Goal Core · Strategic goals · Diagnosis3

  • The diagnosis statementGoal Core · Strategic goals · DiagnosisOne paragraph naming the constraint and why it matters now — written before the goal, not reverse-engineered after it.
  • The evidence behind itGoal Core · Strategic goals · DiagnosisWhat the diagnosis is relying on — data, observation, customer input — so the reasoning can be checked rather than accepted.
  • Rejected diagnosesGoal Core · Strategic goals · DiagnosisThe other readings that were considered and set aside, with the reason — valuable precisely when the situation changes.

Goal Core · Strategic goals · Strategic themes3

  • The theme setGoal Core · Strategic goals · Strategic themesTwo or three named lines of effort, each with the goals that sit under it.
  • The causal mapGoal Core · Strategic goals · Strategic themesHow the goals within and across themes are expected to reinforce one another — the claim made visible so it can be argued with.
  • Orphaned goalsGoal Core · Strategic goals · Strategic themesAnything that fits no theme, held separately until it is either connected or dropped.

Goal Core · Strategic goals · Trade-offs3

  • The exclusion listGoal Core · Strategic goals · Trade-offsWhat is deliberately not being pursued, stated specifically enough that someone could check.
  • The reasoning recordGoal Core · Strategic goals · Trade-offsWhy each exclusion was made, recorded at the time it was made.
  • Reopening conditionsGoal Core · Strategic goals · Trade-offsWhat would have to change for each exclusion to be reconsidered.

Goal Core · Strategic goals · Horizon and measures3

  • The horizonGoal Core · Strategic goals · Horizon and measuresThe date by which the goal is expected to have landed — set so that the goal is capable of being late.
  • The primary measureGoal Core · Strategic goals · Horizon and measuresOne indicator with a stated threshold, agreed as decisive. A second usually means the first was not trusted.
  • Supporting measuresGoal Core · Strategic goals · Horizon and measuresContext indicators, explicitly marked as not decisive.

Business Core · HR · Workforce planning3

  • The capability mapBusiness Core · HR · Workforce planningWhat the organisation can currently do, expressed as capabilities held by people rather than as a list of job titles.
  • The demand forecastBusiness Core · HR · Workforce planningWhat capability the plan will require, over a horizon long enough that the organisation could still acquire it.
  • The gap analysisBusiness Core · HR · Workforce planningThe difference between capability held and capability needed, with a decision attached to each gap.

Business Core · HR · Recruitment and selection3

  • The role definitionBusiness Core · HR · Recruitment and selectionWhat the role is for, what it must be able to do, and what a good first year looks like — written before anyone is approached.
  • The assessment designBusiness Core · HR · Recruitment and selectionHow candidates will be assessed against the definition, decided before the first conversation rather than adjusted during.
  • The decision recordBusiness Core · HR · Recruitment and selectionWhat was decided, on what evidence, and what the panel was uncertain about — kept because it is useful long after the hire.

Business Core · HR · Development3

  • The development planBusiness Core · HR · DevelopmentWhat a person is working towards, why it matters to them and to the organisation, and what will actually change to make it happen.
  • The assignment recordBusiness Core · HR · DevelopmentThe consequential work people were given in order to develop — which is where capability is actually built.
  • The capability checkBusiness Core · HR · DevelopmentWhether the capability actually improved, assessed on evidence rather than on effort or attendance.

Business Core · HR · Retention and engagement3

  • The turnover recordBusiness Core · HR · Retention and engagementWho left, when, and from where — segmented, because the total tells you almost nothing.
  • The engagement readBusiness Core · HR · Retention and engagementWhat people say about working here, gathered in a way that permits an honest answer and followed by something visible.
  • The exit findingsBusiness Core · HR · Retention and engagementWhat departing people said, aggregated across departures — because the pattern is the finding, not the individual conversation.

Business Core · Value Proposition · Customer jobs and pains3

  • The job statementBusiness Core · Value Proposition · Customer jobs and painsWhat the customer is trying to get done, written in their situation rather than in the language of your product.
  • The pain listBusiness Core · Value Proposition · Customer jobs and painsWhat goes wrong, costs too much or takes too long when the customer does the job today — ranked by severity rather than by how often it is mentioned.
  • The gain listBusiness Core · Value Proposition · Customer jobs and painsThe outcomes the customer wants beyond removing pain — separated into what is expected and what would genuinely surprise.

Business Core · Value Proposition · The offer3

  • The offer inventoryBusiness Core · Value Proposition · The offerEverything the organisation actually provides — products, services, support, terms — listed before anything is claimed about it.
  • The value mapBusiness Core · Value Proposition · The offerWhich part of the offer addresses which pain or gain — the link that turns two lists into a proposition.
  • The unmatched listBusiness Core · Value Proposition · The offerThe pains and gains nothing in the offer addresses, and the offer elements that address nothing — both kept visible.

Business Core · Value Proposition · Differentiation3

  • The alternative setBusiness Core · Value Proposition · DifferentiationWhat the customer would do instead — including doing nothing, which is the most common competitor and the least often listed.
  • The difference statementBusiness Core · Value Proposition · DifferentiationWhat is true of your offer and not of the alternatives, stated so plainly that a rival could not use the same sentence.
  • The deliberate weaknessesBusiness Core · Value Proposition · DifferentiationWhat the offer is consciously not good at, chosen so that it can be excellent elsewhere.

Business Core · Value Proposition · Proof3

  • The claim inventoryBusiness Core · Value Proposition · ProofEvery claim the organisation makes, gathered from wherever it is actually being said rather than from the approved messaging.
  • The proof setBusiness Core · Value Proposition · ProofThe evidence behind each claim, matched to how strong the claim is and to what the audience would accept.
  • The gapsBusiness Core · Value Proposition · ProofClaims with no adequate evidence, listed explicitly with a decision attached to each.

Business Core · Monetisation · Revenue model3

  • The metric decisionBusiness Core · Monetisation · Revenue modelWhat the customer is charged for — the unit of value — decided explicitly rather than inherited from whoever was here first.
  • The stream mapBusiness Core · Monetisation · Revenue modelEvery distinct way money arrives, including the small ones that were never designed and are rarely reported.
  • The incentive checkBusiness Core · Monetisation · Revenue modelWhat the revenue model makes the organisation itself do — which is at least as consequential as what it makes customers do.

Business Core · Monetisation · Pricing3

  • The price listBusiness Core · Monetisation · PricingWhat is charged, to whom, under what conditions — the actual list, including everything that varies from it.
  • The value basisBusiness Core · Monetisation · PricingThe evidence about what the offer is worth to the customer, which is what a price should be set against.
  • The discount policyBusiness Core · Monetisation · PricingWho may reduce price, by how much, and in exchange for what — written down, because unwritten policy is the widest policy.

Business Core · Monetisation · Margin structure3

  • The cost to serve modelBusiness Core · Monetisation · Margin structureWhat it actually costs to deliver to a given customer or segment, including the costs that are usually averaged away.
  • The contribution analysisBusiness Core · Monetisation · Margin structureWhat each customer, product or segment contributes after its own costs — the view that decides where to put effort.
  • The scale modelBusiness Core · Monetisation · Margin structureHow margin behaves as volume grows — whether it improves, holds, or quietly deteriorates.

Business Core · Monetisation · Revenue quality3

  • The revenue splitBusiness Core · Monetisation · Revenue qualityRevenue broken down by how dependable it is — recurring, repeating and one-off held apart rather than summed.
  • The concentration measureBusiness Core · Monetisation · Revenue qualityHow much of the revenue depends on how few customers, channels or markets — the risk that only becomes visible when it arrives.
  • The retention recordBusiness Core · Monetisation · Revenue qualityWhat proportion of revenue stays, measured by revenue rather than by customer count — because those two numbers can point in opposite directions.

Business Core · Core Competencies · Identification3

  • The candidate listBusiness Core · Core Competencies · IdentificationThe things the organisation might be genuinely good at, stated as capabilities rather than as assets or intentions.
  • The evidence fileBusiness Core · Core Competencies · IdentificationWhat the organisation has actually done that demonstrates each candidate — outcomes rather than assertions.
  • The self-image gapBusiness Core · Core Competencies · IdentificationThe distance between what the organisation says it is good at and what the evidence supports.

Business Core · Core Competencies · Testing for advantage3

  • The test resultsBusiness Core · Core Competencies · Testing for advantageEach candidate assessed against the standard tests — value, rarity, imitability and organisation — with the answers recorded.
  • The confirmed setBusiness Core · Core Competencies · Testing for advantageThe competences that survived testing — deliberately few, because the point of the exercise is to concentrate attention.
  • The clockBusiness Core · Core Competencies · Testing for advantageHow long each advantage is expected to last, and what would end it — treated as a countdown rather than a possession.

Business Core · Core Competencies · Building3

  • The route decisionBusiness Core · Core Competencies · BuildingHow a needed competence will be obtained — built, bought, partnered or hired — decided against what it will be worth in three years.
  • The build planBusiness Core · Core Competencies · BuildingHow the competence will actually be developed — the work, the people, the sequence, and what it displaces.
  • The absorption checkBusiness Core · Core Competencies · BuildingWhether the competence has actually entered the organisation, or is still sitting with the individuals who acquired it.

Business Core · Core Competencies · Protecting3

  • The dependency mapBusiness Core · Core Competencies · ProtectingWhat each competence actually rests on — the people, systems, relationships and knowledge without which it stops working.
  • The embedding recordBusiness Core · Core Competencies · ProtectingWhat has been done to hold each competence in the organisation rather than in individuals — and what that has cost.
  • The erosion watchBusiness Core · Core Competencies · ProtectingThe indicators that would show a competence weakening, checked by someone, before the loss becomes obvious.

Business Core · Business Assets · Asset register3

  • The registerBusiness Core · Business Assets · Asset registerThe list itself — every asset with an owner, a location and a category that leaves room for the things that were never bought.
  • The intangible scheduleBusiness Core · Business Assets · Asset registerThe assets with no purchase price — data, documentation, domains, accumulated models — which are frequently the most valuable and the least tracked.
  • The review recordBusiness Core · Business Assets · Asset registerWhen the register was last checked against reality, what was found, and what was corrected.

Business Core · Business Assets · Intellectual property3

  • The IP scheduleBusiness Core · Business Assets · Intellectual propertyEvery significant intangible with a rights position — what it is, what protection it carries, and where it is registered.
  • The ownership evidenceBusiness Core · Business Assets · Intellectual propertyThe documents that establish who actually owns what — contractor assignments above all, which are where ownership most often fails.
  • The licence obligationsBusiness Core · Business Assets · Intellectual propertyWhat the organisation is bound by through what it has built on — third-party terms that follow the product wherever it goes.

Business Core · Business Assets · Utilisation3

  • The utilisation measureBusiness Core · Business Assets · UtilisationActual use against practical capacity, per asset, measured consistently enough to compare over time.
  • The target setBusiness Core · Business Assets · UtilisationWhat utilisation each asset should run at, with headroom included as a decision rather than left as slack.
  • The idle listBusiness Core · Business Assets · UtilisationAssets persistently below target, each with a decision attached — because an idle asset costs money continuously and appears on no report as a problem.

Business Core · Business Assets · Lifecycle3

  • The lifecycle cost modelBusiness Core · Business Assets · LifecycleWhat an asset costs across its whole life, which is usually several times its purchase price.
  • The replacement scheduleBusiness Core · Business Assets · LifecycleWhen each asset is expected to be replaced, set at acquisition so that replacement is planned rather than triggered by failure.
  • The disposal procedureBusiness Core · Business Assets · LifecycleWhat happens when an asset leaves — data, regulation, contracts and record, in an order that does not depend on who is doing it.

Business Core · Operational Systems · Process design3

  • The current-state mapBusiness Core · Operational Systems · Process designHow work actually moves today, including the queues and the workarounds — as observed rather than as described.
  • The time analysisBusiness Core · Operational Systems · Process designWhere the elapsed time actually goes — processing against waiting — which is where the improvement opportunity nearly always sits.
  • The future-state designBusiness Core · Operational Systems · Process designThe redesigned process, built from the real one, with each change traced to what it is meant to fix.

Business Core · Operational Systems · Tooling3

  • The tool inventoryBusiness Core · Operational Systems · ToolingWhat the organisation actually runs on — including everything acquired by a team without anyone else knowing.
  • The fit assessmentBusiness Core · Operational Systems · ToolingHow well each tool matches the process it supports — and where the process bent to fit the tool instead.
  • The retirement planBusiness Core · Operational Systems · ToolingWhat is being switched off, when, and what has to move before it can be — because adopting without retiring is how tool sprawl happens.

Business Core · Operational Systems · Standards and quality3

  • The standardBusiness Core · Operational Systems · Standards and qualityWhat good output looks like, written as conditions that can be checked rather than qualities that must be judged.
  • The check pointsBusiness Core · Operational Systems · Standards and qualityWhere quality is verified, placed as close to the source of the defect as possible rather than at the end of the line.
  • The defect recordBusiness Core · Operational Systems · Standards and qualityDefects logged by where they were created rather than where they were found, because only the first is actionable.

Business Core · Operational Systems · Continuous improvement3

  • The improvement logBusiness Core · Operational Systems · Continuous improvementWhat was changed, by whom, and what it was expected to do — kept so that improvement can be distinguished from activity.
  • The measurementBusiness Core · Operational Systems · Continuous improvementBefore and after for each change, so that effect can be distinguished from enthusiasm.
  • The updated standardBusiness Core · Operational Systems · Continuous improvementThe improvement written into the standard — which is the step that makes it permanent rather than temporary.

Business Core · Partners · Partner selection3

  • The partnership caseBusiness Core · Partners · Partner selectionWhat the partnership is for, and why it beats building the capability, buying it, or doing without.
  • The selection criteriaBusiness Core · Partners · Partner selectionWhat is being assessed and how it is weighted, fixed before the candidates are known.
  • The due diligence recordBusiness Core · Partners · Partner selectionWhat was actually checked before committing, and what was found — including what could not be verified.

Business Core · Partners · The agreement3

  • The obligationsBusiness Core · Partners · The agreementWhat each side commits to deliver, by when, to what standard — written as observable commitments rather than as intentions.
  • The commercial termsBusiness Core · Partners · The agreementPrice, payment and how both change over the term — including the mechanisms nobody looks at until they trigger.
  • The exit termsBusiness Core · Partners · The agreementHow the arrangement ends — notice, transition, and what each side keeps. Negotiated while everyone is optimistic, or not at all.

Business Core · Partners · Governance3

  • The relationship ownersBusiness Core · Partners · GovernanceOne accountable person on each side — not a committee, not a mailbox, and not whoever negotiated the contract.
  • The meeting rhythmBusiness Core · Partners · GovernanceHow often the two sides meet, at what level, and what gets reviewed — set by the stakes rather than by habit.
  • The escalation pathBusiness Core · Partners · GovernanceWhere a problem goes when the owners cannot resolve it — named people, an agreed trigger, and a timescale.

Business Core · Partners · Value review3

  • The performance recordBusiness Core · Partners · Value reviewWhat was delivered against what was agreed, over the period — kept continuously rather than assembled at review time.
  • The full costBusiness Core · Partners · Value reviewWhat the partnership actually costs — price, management time, and what switching would cost if it ended.
  • The decisionBusiness Core · Partners · Value reviewRenew, renegotiate or exit — taken far enough before the renewal date that all three are genuinely available.

Business Core · Stakeholders · Identification3

  • The stakeholder listBusiness Core · Stakeholders · IdentificationEveryone who can affect the organisation and everyone affected by it, named specifically rather than by category.
  • The influence mapBusiness Core · Stakeholders · IdentificationWho holds power, who holds a legitimate claim, and where those two diverge — which is where most stakeholder failures originate.
  • The review triggerBusiness Core · Stakeholders · IdentificationWhat changes prompt the stakeholder list to be revisited, so it does not silently describe a former organisation.

Business Core · Stakeholders · Expectations3

  • The expectation recordBusiness Core · Stakeholders · ExpectationsWhat each stakeholder says they expect, in their own words, with the date it was established.
  • The interest analysisBusiness Core · Stakeholders · ExpectationsThe underlying interest behind each stated position — which is where agreement becomes possible.
  • The conflict registerBusiness Core · Stakeholders · ExpectationsWhere stakeholder expectations are genuinely incompatible, recorded rather than resolved on paper.

Business Core · Stakeholders · Engagement3

  • The engagement levelBusiness Core · Stakeholders · EngagementInform, consult, involve or decide with — chosen deliberately per stakeholder and stated honestly.
  • The methodBusiness Core · Stakeholders · EngagementHow engagement actually happens, matched to the level claimed — because a survey cannot deliver involvement.
  • The feedback loopBusiness Core · Stakeholders · EngagementTelling people what was decided and how their input was used — including where it was not.

Business Core · Stakeholders · Reporting3

  • The reporting scheduleBusiness Core · Stakeholders · ReportingWho receives what, how often, in what form — held to through difficult periods as well as good ones.
  • The report contentBusiness Core · Stakeholders · ReportingWhat changed, what it means, and what is being done — matched to what the recipient actually has to decide.
  • The disclosure ruleBusiness Core · Stakeholders · ReportingWhat gets reported early regardless of how it reads, decided in advance rather than in the moment.

Business Core · Finance · Budgeting3

  • The budgetBusiness Core · Finance · BudgetingThe allocation itself — money against lines, with the assumptions that produced each figure.
  • The strategy checkBusiness Core · Finance · BudgetingWhere the money moved compared with last period, and whether that matches what the organisation says its priorities are.
  • The variance recordBusiness Core · Finance · BudgetingActual against budget, with the reason rather than only the number — because the number alone prompts explanation rather than learning.

Business Core · Finance · Forecasting3

  • The forecastBusiness Core · Finance · ForecastingThe current estimate of where the numbers are heading, over a horizon that rolls forward rather than shortening to nothing.
  • The scenario setBusiness Core · Finance · ForecastingThe alternative paths worth planning for, each with what would trigger it and what the organisation would do.
  • The accuracy recordBusiness Core · Finance · ForecastingPast forecasts against what actually happened, so that systematic bias becomes visible and correctable.

Business Core · Finance · Cash flow3

  • The cash forecastBusiness Core · Finance · Cash flowMoney in and out by week, thirteen weeks ahead — long enough to see a problem and short enough to be accurate.
  • The conversion cycleBusiness Core · Finance · Cash flowHow long from paying for inputs to being paid for outputs — the measure that explains why growth consumes cash.
  • The runwayBusiness Core · Finance · Cash flowHow long the organisation survives at current burn — a number someone should know without calculating it.

Business Core · Finance · Financial reporting3

  • The reporting packBusiness Core · Finance · Financial reportingWhat is produced each period and for whom — kept short enough that it is read and relevant enough that it is used.
  • The close calendarBusiness Core · Finance · Financial reportingWhat happens when, so the pack arrives while it is still useful — which usually means accepting estimates.
  • The commentaryBusiness Core · Finance · Financial reportingWhat changed, why, and what is being done — the part that turns numbers into something someone can act on.

Business Core · Supply Chain · Sourcing3

  • The supplier listBusiness Core · Supply Chain · SourcingWho supplies what, on what terms, and at what share of each input — the base record everything else in the object depends on.
  • The total cost comparisonBusiness Core · Supply Chain · SourcingWhat each option actually costs once quality, lead time, terms and switching are included — which reverses the ranking often enough to be worth doing every time.
  • The concentration positionBusiness Core · Supply Chain · SourcingWhere the organisation depends on one source, and whether that is a decision or an accumulation.

Business Core · Supply Chain · Logistics3

  • The networkBusiness Core · Supply Chain · LogisticsWhere things are stored and moved, and how far that is from demand — the design that sets the cost floor.
  • The lead time recordBusiness Core · Supply Chain · LogisticsActual times with their spread rather than the quoted average — because variability is what costs money.
  • The cost per movementBusiness Core · Supply Chain · LogisticsWhat it costs to move a unit, by mode and by leg, including the handling that does not appear on a freight invoice.

Business Core · Supply Chain · Inventory3

  • The stock positionBusiness Core · Supply Chain · InventoryWhat is held, where, and at what value — with a record accurate enough to be trusted.
  • The reorder rulesBusiness Core · Supply Chain · InventoryReorder point and safety stock per item, derived from measured variability and a chosen service level rather than from intuition.
  • The ageing reportBusiness Core · Supply Chain · InventoryStock by how long it has been held — which is where obsolescence shows before it shows in the valuation.

Business Core · Supply Chain · Resilience3

  • The dependency mapBusiness Core · Supply Chain · ResilienceWhat the supply actually depends on, mapped below the first tier where most of the risk sits.
  • The failure pointsBusiness Core · Supply Chain · ResilienceWhere a single failure stops supply, each carrying a status of accepted or mitigated rather than merely noted.
  • The tested responseBusiness Core · Supply Chain · ResilienceWhat happens when supply breaks, and when that was last actually rehearsed rather than written.

Business Core · Manufacturing Operations · Capacity planning3

  • The capacity modelBusiness Core · Manufacturing Operations · Capacity planningPractical output per period, per resource, with the constraint identified — because output is set by one step and not by the average.
  • The demand planBusiness Core · Manufacturing Operations · Capacity planningWhat will be needed, over a horizon that matches how long capacity takes to add.
  • The capacity decisionBusiness Core · Manufacturing Operations · Capacity planningWhether to lead or lag demand, and what triggers the next change — a choice rather than a drift.

Business Core · Manufacturing Operations · Production flow3

  • The flow mapBusiness Core · Manufacturing Operations · Production flowHow work moves through production, with queues and handovers made visible rather than drawn as arrows.
  • The WIP limitBusiness Core · Manufacturing Operations · Production flowHow much work is allowed in the system at once — the counter-intuitive lever that shortens lead time without reducing throughput.
  • The flow measureBusiness Core · Manufacturing Operations · Production flowWorking time against elapsed time, per product line — the number that shows how much of the lead time is actually production.

Business Core · Manufacturing Operations · Quality management3

  • The specificationBusiness Core · Manufacturing Operations · Quality managementWhat output must meet, in measurable terms, with tolerances derived from what the next step actually needs.
  • The capability measureBusiness Core · Manufacturing Operations · Quality managementWhether the process can hold the specification consistently — a question about the process rather than about today’s output.
  • The root cause recordBusiness Core · Manufacturing Operations · Quality managementWhy defects occurred and what was changed as a result — the step that turns a defect record into an improvement.

Business Core · Manufacturing Operations · Maintenance3

  • The maintenance regimeBusiness Core · Manufacturing Operations · MaintenanceWhich approach applies to which asset — preventive, condition-based or run-to-failure — chosen on consequence rather than habit.
  • The scheduleBusiness Core · Manufacturing Operations · MaintenancePlanned work with protected windows — because a window that is always surrendered to production is not a schedule.
  • The downtime recordBusiness Core · Manufacturing Operations · MaintenanceUnplanned stops by cause, so that repeats become visible — because a repeated cause is a design problem rather than a maintenance one.

Business Core · Compliance · Regulatory mapping3

  • The obligations registerBusiness Core · Compliance · Regulatory mappingEvery applicable rule, its source, and what it requires — mapped by activity rather than by department.
  • The requirement translationBusiness Core · Compliance · Regulatory mappingEach obligation expressed as something a named person must do or evidence — because a citation is not an instruction.
  • The change watchBusiness Core · Compliance · Regulatory mappingWho monitors for regulatory change, and how it actually enters the register.

Business Core · Compliance · Controls3

  • The control setBusiness Core · Compliance · ControlsEach control, what it addresses, and whether it prevents or detects — built into the process rather than checked afterwards.
  • The control ownerBusiness Core · Compliance · ControlsWho is accountable for the control operating — not for the policy existing.
  • The evidence trailBusiness Core · Compliance · ControlsWhat the control produces as proof that it ran — generated by operating rather than assembled before an audit.

Business Core · Compliance · Monitoring3

  • The monitoring planBusiness Core · Compliance · MonitoringWhat is tested, how often, and by whom — weighted by consequence rather than spread evenly.
  • The test recordBusiness Core · Compliance · MonitoringWhat was sampled, what was found, and against what evidence — testing operation rather than documentation.
  • The findings logBusiness Core · Compliance · MonitoringOpen findings with owner and date, tracked to closure — because a finding raised and not closed is a documented failure.

Business Core · Compliance · Incident response3

  • The incident definitionBusiness Core · Compliance · Incident responseWhat counts as an incident, at what severity, written before one happens — so recognising it is not itself a judgement under pressure.
  • The response planBusiness Core · Compliance · Incident responseContainment, roles, notification deadlines and who decides — settled in advance, because the clock runs during the incident.
  • The post-incident reviewBusiness Core · Compliance · Incident responseRoot cause and what changed, kept separate from the incident record itself so that learning is not mixed with the account of events.

Brand Core · Brand promise · The promise3

  • The commitmentBrand Core · Brand promise · The promiseThe promise in its final wording, held fixed until formally revised — because a promise paraphrased differently in three places is three promises.
  • The boundaryBrand Core · Brand promise · The promiseWhat the promise does not cover, and who it is not for — the part that makes it capable of settling anything.
  • The originBrand Core · Brand promise · The promiseWhat in the organisation’s purpose and capability the promise is derived from — the argument for it, and the fastest way to re-derive it later.

Brand Core · Brand promise · Deliverability3

  • The cost to keepBrand Core · Brand promise · DeliverabilityWhat delivering the promise reliably requires, in capacity and in money — because a promise nobody has costed is a promise nobody has agreed to.
  • The breaking pointBrand Core · Brand promise · DeliverabilityWhere and under what conditions the promise fails first — because there is always a first failure point and naming it is what allows it to be resourced.
  • The operational commitmentBrand Core · Brand promise · DeliverabilityWhat has been agreed internally to make the promise deliverable — because a promise operations did not agree to is one operations will not defend.

Brand Core · Brand promise · Communication3

  • The statementsBrand Core · Brand promise · CommunicationWhere the promise appears externally, in the exact wording used — because customers will hold you to the strongest version they encountered.
  • The expectation setBrand Core · Brand promise · CommunicationWhat customers actually come to expect, including from the things that are not the promise — price, design, response time, who answers the phone.
  • The marginBrand Core · Brand promise · CommunicationThe deliberate distance between what is promised and what is normally delivered — a choice with a cost in appeal and a return in trust.

Brand Core · Brand promise · Keeping it3

  • The failure recordBrand Core · Brand promise · Keeping itHow often the promise was not kept, by cause and period — because a promise with no failure record is unmeasured rather than unbroken.
  • The recoveryBrand Core · Brand promise · Keeping itWhat happens when the promise fails, and who can authorise it without asking — because a recovery requiring approval takes long enough to lose the customer.
  • The trust readingBrand Core · Brand promise · Keeping itWhether customers believe the promise — a different measure from whether it is kept, and the one that decides behaviour.

Brand Core · Brand Identity · Brand personality3

  • The traitsBrand Core · Brand Identity · Brand personalityThe chosen characteristics, each with what it is not — because a trait without its opposite constrains nothing.
  • The behavioural rulesBrand Core · Brand Identity · Brand personalityHow the personality shows up in specific situations, particularly the difficult ones — because that is where adjectives stop helping.
  • The exclusionsBrand Core · Brand Identity · Brand personalityWhat the brand deliberately does not do or sound like — the list that keeps the personality from expanding to cover everything.

Brand Core · Brand Identity · Visual system3

  • The distinctive assetsBrand Core · Brand Identity · Visual systemThe elements that carry recognition, identified rather than assumed — because most of a visual system is styling and a small part of it is memory.
  • The specificationsBrand Core · Brand Identity · Visual systemColour, type, spacing and construction in values that can be reproduced exactly — because the system will be applied by people who never spoke to anyone about it.
  • The application rulesBrand Core · Brand Identity · Visual systemHow the system behaves in the difficult cases — small sizes, dark backgrounds, third-party templates — because the easy cases were never the problem.

Brand Core · Brand Identity · Verbal system3

  • The tone of voiceBrand Core · Brand Identity · Verbal systemHow the brand writes, expressed as pairs rather than as principles — because a principle nobody can apply to a sentence is not a guideline.
  • The vocabularyBrand Core · Brand Identity · Verbal systemWhat the organisation calls its own things, settled once — because three names for one feature is a brand problem before it is a documentation problem.
  • The naming rulesBrand Core · Brand Identity · Verbal systemHow new things beneath the brand are named, decided in advance — because a convention decided per launch is an argument rather than a decision.

Brand Core · Brand Identity · Consistency3

  • The asset libraryBrand Core · Brand Identity · ConsistencyWhere the approved material lives, and how easily it is reached — because most inconsistency is somebody who could not find the right file.
  • The approval routeBrand Core · Brand Identity · ConsistencyWho can authorise a departure, and how quickly — because a system with no exception process gets exceptions anyway.
  • The auditBrand Core · Brand Identity · ConsistencyActual output collected and reviewed against the intent — because drift is invisible incrementally and obvious in aggregate.

Brand Core · Brand Positioning · Frame of reference3

  • The categoryBrand Core · Brand Positioning · Frame of referenceWhat the customer files the brand under, in their words — which is frequently broader and less flattering than the industry definition.
  • The comparison setBrand Core · Brand Positioning · Frame of referenceWhat they would actually do instead, including doing nothing — the set the brand is genuinely judged against.
  • The entry pointsBrand Core · Brand Positioning · Frame of referenceThe situations that bring the category to mind at all — because a brand not retrieved at the moment of need is not in the consideration set.

Brand Core · Brand Positioning · Points of difference3

  • The parity pointsBrand Core · Brand Positioning · Points of differenceWhat the brand must be credibly adequate at to be considered — because most positioning failures are parity failures.
  • The differencesBrand Core · Brand Positioning · Points of differenceWhat the brand is meant to be believed better at, tested on all three criteria — matters to them, deliverable by us, hard for others to claim.
  • The accepted trade-offBrand Core · Brand Positioning · Points of differenceWhat the brand deliberately does not compete on — because a position with no trade-off is not a position.

Brand Core · Brand Positioning · The positioning statement3

  • The statementBrand Core · Brand Positioning · The positioning statementThe sentence itself, with its four parts — target, frame, difference and reason to believe — written for the organisation rather than the market.
  • The reason to believeBrand Core · Brand Positioning · The positioning statementWhat makes the claim credible — the part usually missing, and the part that turns a position into something arguable.
  • The version recordBrand Core · Brand Positioning · The positioning statementHow the position has changed, and why — because a position that moves with each planning cycle never accumulates.

Brand Core · Brand Positioning · Brand architecture3

  • The portfolio mapBrand Core · Brand Positioning · Brand architectureEvery brand and name in market, and how they currently relate — a list that is always longer than anyone expects.
  • The relationship ruleBrand Core · Brand Positioning · Brand architectureWhat carries the master brand, what is endorsed, and what stands alone — decided as a rule rather than per launch.
  • The case per brandBrand Core · Brand Positioning · Brand architectureWhat each separate brand buys that justifies maintaining it — assessed periodically, because most of them were never assessed at all.

Brand Core · Brand Value · Awareness3

  • The recall measureBrand Core · Brand Value · AwarenessUnprompted recall by buying situation, with prompted recognition alongside — because the gap between them is more informative than either.
  • The situationsBrand Core · Brand Value · AwarenessThe occasions the brand should be retrieved for, listed rather than assumed — because awareness is situational and an overall figure hides where it is missing.
  • The comparisonBrand Core · Brand Value · AwarenessThe same measures for competitors, without which the figure means nothing — because rising while the category rises faster is a decline.

Brand Core · Brand Value · Associations3

  • The association setBrand Core · Brand Value · AssociationsWhat actually comes to mind, elicited unprompted — because a prepared list can only measure the associations you already knew about.
  • The scoringBrand Core · Brand Value · AssociationsStrength, favourability and uniqueness for each association — because an association scoring well on two of the three does no work.
  • The unintendedBrand Core · Brand Value · AssociationsAssociations nobody planned, including the ones that are inconvenient — which is the finding the module exists to produce.

Brand Core · Brand Value · Loyalty3

  • The behaviourBrand Core · Brand Value · LoyaltyRepeat purchase, retention and share of category spend — what customers actually do, before asking what they think.
  • The attitudeBrand Core · Brand Value · LoyaltyRelative preference, and what would survive a better offer — the half of loyalty that predicts what happens when the market changes.
  • The lock-inBrand Core · Brand Value · LoyaltyWhat holds customers that is not preference — contracts, integration, habit — because only preference is brand value.

Brand Core · Brand Value · Valuation3

  • The methodBrand Core · Brand Value · ValuationWhich approach was used, with its inputs and assumptions — because the number is entirely a function of them.
  • The price premiumBrand Core · Brand Value · ValuationWhat customers pay for the same thing with the brand on it — the least arguable evidence of brand value that exists.
  • The valuationBrand Core · Brand Value · ValuationThe resulting figure, held with the decision it was produced for — because a valuation with no decision attached is a number nobody uses.

Brand Core · Brand Perception · Measuring perception3

  • The instrumentBrand Core · Brand Perception · Measuring perceptionWhat is asked, of whom, how often — held constant between waves, because improving the survey destroys the trend it exists to produce.
  • The readingBrand Core · Brand Perception · Measuring perceptionThe results, with the sample and response rate that qualify them — because a figure without its denominator is not a finding.
  • The limitsBrand Core · Brand Perception · Measuring perceptionWhat the method cannot see, and who was not asked — recorded alongside the result, because every method here is biased in a known direction.

Brand Core · Brand Perception · The identity–image gap3

  • The comparisonBrand Core · Brand Perception · The identity–image gapStated identity against unprompted image, side by side — word for word where possible, because paraphrasing on either side hides the gap.
  • The diagnosisBrand Core · Brand Perception · The identity–image gapWhether the message was unheard, heard and disbelieved, or accurate and unwelcome — three findings that look identical in the data.
  • The priority gapsBrand Core · Brand Perception · The identity–image gapThe misperceptions that affect what people actually do — because not every gap is worth closing and most are not.

Brand Core · Brand Perception · Segment differences3

  • The segmentsBrand Core · Brand Perception · Segment differencesWhich audiences are read separately, and why those — because an average across them describes nobody.
  • The differencesBrand Core · Brand Perception · Segment differencesWhere the pictures diverge, and by how much — because the divergence is more informative than any single group’s reading.
  • The internal readingBrand Core · Brand Perception · Segment differencesHow employees and candidates see the brand, held against the external view — because the internal picture is the least reliable proxy and the most used.

Brand Core · Brand Perception · Shifting perception3

  • The target perceptionBrand Core · Brand Perception · Shifting perceptionThe one belief being changed, and what it should become — one at a time, because changing several simultaneously changes none.
  • The disconfirming evidenceBrand Core · Brand Perception · Shifting perceptionWhat people must encounter that contradicts the current belief — because beliefs are revised by evidence, not by assertions that they are wrong.
  • The horizonBrand Core · Brand Perception · Shifting perceptionHow long it is expected to take, agreed before the work starts — because the organisation will lose patience before the market updates.

Brand Core · Brand Narrative · The story3

  • The narrativeBrand Core · Brand Narrative · The storyThe story in its told form, short enough to be repeated — because what reaches the market is the version someone reproduces from memory.
  • The tensionBrand Core · Brand Narrative · The storyThe difficulty that makes it a story rather than a description — the first thing a review process removes and the reason the story works.
  • The retelling testBrand Core · Brand Narrative · The storyWhat actually survives when someone repeats it a week later — the only measure of a narrative that matters.

Brand Core · Brand Narrative · Message architecture3

  • The master messageBrand Core · Brand Narrative · Message architectureThe single thing that must land — because without a hierarchy every message is equally important and none of them arrives.
  • The supporting messagesBrand Core · Brand Narrative · Message architectureWhat holds the master message up, kept to a few — because more than three and the hierarchy is flat again.
  • The audience variantsBrand Core · Brand Narrative · Message architectureWhat changes by audience, written side by side so contradictions show — because they are only visible when read together.

Brand Core · Brand Narrative · The tellers3

  • The internal versionBrand Core · Brand Narrative · The tellersWhat employees are actually given, short enough to use in conversation — because they do more narrative work than any campaign.
  • The variance checkBrand Core · Brand Narrative · The tellersWhat people inside actually say when asked, and how much it differs — the narrative’s real state.
  • The external tellersBrand Core · Brand Narrative · The tellersCustomers, partners and media, and what each has been equipped with — because they will describe you either way.

Brand Core · Brand Narrative · Evolution3

  • The fixed partsBrand Core · Brand Narrative · EvolutionWhat will not change, decided before there is pressure to change it — because under pressure nothing turns out to be fixed.
  • The change recordBrand Core · Brand Narrative · EvolutionHow the narrative has evolved, and what prompted each change — because someone will ask why the story is different now.
  • The continuity costBrand Core · Brand Narrative · EvolutionWhat a change would spend in recognition, and what built it — because abandoning narrative equity is usually more expensive than the change it accompanies.

Goal Core · Purpose · Core values3

  • The value setGoal Core · Purpose · Core valuesThe three or four commitments themselves, each with what it rules out — because a value that excludes nothing is an adjective.
  • The price paidGoal Core · Purpose · Core valuesThe occasions where holding the value cost the organisation something — because a value that has never cost anything has never been tested.
  • The enforcement recordGoal Core · Purpose · Core valuesWhat actually happens when a value is breached, including by someone valuable — which is where the value is either established or revealed as decoration.

Vision Core · Vision Statement · The statement3

  • The future stateVision Core · Vision Statement · The statementWhat will be true when the vision is reached, in terms someone outside the organisation could verify.
  • The horizonVision Core · Vision Statement · The statementWhen the vision is expected to be reached, and why that date — because a vision with no date cannot be missed and therefore is not pursued.
  • The vivid descriptionVision Core · Vision Statement · The statementWhat it looks and feels like on arrival — the half people can act on, as distinct from the headline they can remember.

Vision Core · Vision Statement · Reachability3

  • The gapVision Core · Vision Statement · ReachabilityThe distance between where the organisation is and where the vision puts it — stated in both directions, because the size is what determines whether anyone believes it.
  • The conditionsVision Core · Vision Statement · ReachabilityWhat has to become true, separated into what the organisation controls and what it does not — because a vision resting entirely on the second is a forecast.
  • The belief checkVision Core · Vision Statement · ReachabilityWhether the people who would have to deliver it privately think it is possible — because public agreement is universal and predicts nothing.

Vision Core · Vision Statement · What it rules out3

  • The exclusionsVision Core · Vision Statement · What it rules outWhat the vision makes it wrong to pursue, named specifically — because a vision compatible with everything settles nothing.
  • The decisions settledVision Core · Vision Statement · What it rules outOccasions where the vision actually decided something, with what was declined — the evidence that it works.
  • The pressureVision Core · Vision Statement · What it rules outWhere exclusions are being reopened, and how often exceptions have been granted — because each one looks reasonable and the sum is a vision that permits everything again.

Vision Core · Vision Statement · Progress3

  • The markersVision Core · Vision Statement · ProgressIntermediate measures that would move if the organisation were genuinely closer — designed so that they could plausibly fail to move.
  • The reviewVision Core · Vision Statement · ProgressThe annual reading, including the verdict that nothing moved — because a review that can only report progress is a report.
  • The revision triggerVision Core · Vision Statement · ProgressWhat would make revising the vision the right answer, agreed in advance — so that a later revision is a decision rather than an embarrassment.

Vision Core · Mission Statement · The statement3

  • The activityVision Core · Mission Statement · The statementWhat the organisation actually does, in ordinary words — the part most often replaced by a category description.
  • The audienceVision Core · Mission Statement · The statementWho the organisation does it for, named specifically enough to exclude someone — because a mission serving everyone serves nobody in particular.
  • The endVision Core · Mission Statement · The statementWhat the activity is for — the outcome the audience gets, as distinct from the outcome the organisation gets.

Vision Core · Mission Statement · Scope3

  • The definitionVision Core · Mission Statement · ScopeWhich customers, which need, which means — the three answers that fix the scope in both directions.
  • The boundaryVision Core · Mission Statement · ScopeWhat is deliberately out of scope, including the tempting adjacent things — because the useful half of a scope is what it excludes.
  • The revenue checkVision Core · Mission Statement · ScopeWhere the money actually comes from, held against the stated scope — because where they differ, the statement is the thing that is wrong.

Vision Core · Mission Statement · Recognisability3

  • The readingVision Core · Mission Statement · RecognisabilityWhat people doing the work say when asked to find themselves in it — collected verbatim, because the summary is where the finding disappears.
  • The gapVision Core · Mission Statement · RecognisabilityWhat the mission omits, and what it claims that nobody does — the two directions in which a statement stops being true.
  • The diagnosisVision Core · Mission Statement · RecognisabilityWhether the statement is wrong or the organisation has moved — both occur, and they call for opposite responses.

Vision Core · Mission Statement · Keeping it current3

  • The triggersVision Core · Mission Statement · Keeping it currentThe events that require the mission to be checked against the organisation — because the calendar is not one of them.
  • The version recordVision Core · Mission Statement · Keeping it currentEach version with its dates and what prompted the change — because the sequence says how often the organisation has redefined itself.
  • The explanationVision Core · Mission Statement · Keeping it currentWhat changed and why, in a form that can be given to anyone who asks — because people notice, and being unable to explain it is worse than the change.

Market Core · Market Opportunities · Sizing3

  • The build-upMarket Core · Market Opportunities · SizingThe unit calculation: how many, how often, at what price — a number that can be argued with, which is its whole value.
  • The three sizesMarket Core · Market Opportunities · SizingTotal, serviceable and obtainable, held apart so that the right one is used in the right decision.
  • The sanity checkMarket Core · Market Opportunities · SizingWhat the number implies, tested against something observable — because implausible implications surface immediately.

Market Core · Market Opportunities · Growth and direction3

  • The rateMarket Core · Market Opportunities · Growth and directionHow fast the market is growing or shrinking, over a period long enough to show a cycle rather than a recovery.
  • The driversMarket Core · Market Opportunities · Growth and directionWhat is causing the movement, named specifically — because a growth figure with no named cause cannot be forecast.
  • The stageMarket Core · Market Opportunities · Growth and directionWhere the market sits in its lifecycle, and what that implies — because the same size figure means different things at each stage.

Market Core · Market Opportunities · Opportunity assessment3

  • The attractivenessMarket Core · Market Opportunities · Opportunity assessmentSize, growth, margin and competitive intensity — whether the opportunity is worth having, judged independently of whether you could win it.
  • The fitMarket Core · Market Opportunities · Opportunity assessmentWhat the organisation would need in order to win, and how much of it exists already — the half of assessment that is usually skipped.
  • The why-unservedMarket Core · Market Opportunities · Opportunity assessmentWhat has kept others out, and whether it would keep you out too — the question that resolves most apparent opportunities.

Market Core · Market Opportunities · The shortlist3

  • The pursuedMarket Core · Market Opportunities · The shortlistWhat the organisation has decided to go after, with an owner each — because an opportunity without an owner has been noted rather than adopted.
  • The rejectedMarket Core · Market Opportunities · The shortlistWhat was declined, why, and when it should be looked at again — the list that saves the most time.
  • The revisitMarket Core · Market Opportunities · The shortlistWhat would have to change for a rejection to be reopened, and who is watching for it.

Market Core · Competitors · The competitor set3

  • The setMarket Core · Competitors · The competitor setEveryone competing for the demand, by type — including the substitutes and the in-house builds that industry lists leave out.
  • The share of lossesMarket Core · Competitors · The competitor setWhere demand actually goes when it does not come to you — the most reliable description of the real competitor set.
  • The reviewMarket Core · Competitors · The competitor setWhen the set was last drawn from evidence rather than assumed, and what changed.

Market Core · Competitors · Capability comparison3

  • The dimensionsMarket Core · Competitors · Capability comparisonWhat customers actually weigh, drawn from real decisions rather than from a product roadmap.
  • The comparisonMarket Core · Competitors · Capability comparisonHow each rival stands on each dimension, including where they lead — because a comparison with no losses is not believed by anyone who has to sell against it.
  • The evidenceMarket Core · Competitors · Capability comparisonWhat each assessment rests on, since reputation is not evidence and impression is not either.

Market Core · Competitors · Reading their strategy3

  • The signalsMarket Core · Competitors · Reading their strategyHiring, investment, pricing moves and withdrawals — the observable behaviour that describes a competitor’s intent.
  • The inferred intentMarket Core · Competitors · Reading their strategyWhat they appear to be trying to become, and what they must believe about the market for their behaviour to make sense.
  • The predictionMarket Core · Competitors · Reading their strategyWhat is expected next, recorded so the reading can be checked — because an unchecked inference is a story.

Market Core · Competitors · Monitoring3

  • The watch listMarket Core · Competitors · MonitoringWhat is monitored, with the decision each item would affect — because an item with no decision attached is interesting rather than intelligence.
  • The triggerMarket Core · Competitors · MonitoringWhat development counts as worth reporting — a defined threshold rather than an unfiltered feed.
  • The ownerMarket Core · Competitors · MonitoringWho watches, and how often they actually look — because collective monitoring does not happen and its absence is silent.

Market Core · Target Audience · Segmentation3

  • The segmentsMarket Core · Target Audience · SegmentationThe divisions themselves, with what defines membership — few enough to be acted on rather than merely described.
  • The basisMarket Core · Target Audience · SegmentationWhat the division is built on, and why that predicts behaviour — because demographic divisions are easy to obtain and rarely predict anything.
  • The consequence testMarket Core · Target Audience · SegmentationWhat is done differently for each segment, without which the segment is not real.

Market Core · Target Audience · The profile3

  • The situationMarket Core · Target Audience · The profileWhat their week looks like, what they are measured on, and what constrains them — the content that actually predicts behaviour.
  • The decisionMarket Core · Target Audience · The profileWho else is involved, and who can say no — because the person who uses a product is frequently not the person who buys it.
  • The evidenceMarket Core · Target Audience · The profileWhat the profile is built from, and when it was gathered — because a profile assembled in a workshop describes the team.

Market Core · Target Audience · Segment value3

  • The lifetime valueMarket Core · Target Audience · Segment valueWhat a customer in this segment is worth over the relationship — spend, margin and duration together rather than revenue alone.
  • The acquisition costMarket Core · Target Audience · Segment valueWhat it costs to win one, fully loaded — because the reported figure excludes most of what winning a customer actually takes.
  • The rankingMarket Core · Target Audience · Segment valueSegments by contribution, held against the ranking by revenue — because where the two orders differ, effort is in the wrong place.

Market Core · Target Audience · Where they are3

  • The placesMarket Core · Target Audience · Where they areWhere the segment can actually be found — established by asking, because professional audiences are rarely where the marketing team is.
  • The attention stateMarket Core · Target Audience · Where they areWhat they are doing when they are there — because the same person searching, scrolling and sitting in a meeting is three different audiences.
  • The cost to reachMarket Core · Target Audience · Where they areWhat reaching this segment costs, per place — because some segments are cheap and small and others are expensive and valuable.

Market Core · Customer Journey · The buying stages3

  • The stagesMarket Core · Customer Journey · The buying stagesWhat actually happens, in order, from the buyer’s account rather than from a template.
  • The peopleMarket Core · Customer Journey · The buying stagesWho is involved at each stage, and who can stop it — because the person present at the start is rarely the one who signs.
  • The durationMarket Core · Customer Journey · The buying stagesHow long each stage takes, including the invisible waiting — because most of the elapsed time is not spent doing anything.

Market Core · Customer Journey · Drop-off3

  • The lossesMarket Core · Customer Journey · Drop-offHow many leave at each stage, in absolute numbers — because a poor rate on a small stage matters less than a modest one on a large stage.
  • The reasonsMarket Core · Customer Journey · Drop-offWhy they left, established by asking rather than inferring — because the internal explanation is rarely the buyer’s.
  • The correct filteringMarket Core · Customer Journey · Drop-offWhich drop-off is qualification working as intended — because recovering it is effort spent on customers who should not have been pursued.

Market Core · Customer Journey · What moves people forward3

  • The triggersMarket Core · Customer Journey · What moves people forwardWhat made the buyer start, and what makes the timing urgent — the single most useful thing a buyer interview produces.
  • The evidence neededMarket Core · Customer Journey · What moves people forwardWhat convinced them at each transition — frequently one specific thing, and frequently not the thing the organisation leads with.
  • The peopleMarket Core · Customer Journey · What moves people forwardWho intervened internally, on both sides — because champions and sceptics move deals more than content does, and neither appears in any system.

Market Core · Customer Journey · Attribution3

  • The modelMarket Core · Customer Journey · AttributionWhich attribution approach is used, and what it systematically over- and under-credits — because every model is wrong in a known direction.
  • The unobservableMarket Core · Customer Journey · AttributionWhat influences purchase and cannot be tracked, named so that its effect is not assigned to something else.
  • The holdoutMarket Core · Customer Journey · AttributionWhat has actually been tested by withholding, and what it showed — the only method that answers contribution rather than correlation.

Market Core · Marketing Channels · Channel selection3

  • The channel listMarket Core · Marketing Channels · Channel selectionWhat is used, for which audience, and whether it was chosen or inherited.
  • The fitMarket Core · Marketing Channels · Channel selectionWhether the audience is there and whether the message survives the format — the two tests that decide whether a channel can work at all.
  • The experimentMarket Core · Marketing Channels · Channel selectionThe deliberate unproven line, without which the mix converges on whatever worked three years ago.

Market Core · Marketing Channels · Channel economics3

  • The loaded costMarket Core · Marketing Channels · Channel economicsEverything the channel costs, not just the media line — because production and management frequently exceed the spend.
  • The paybackMarket Core · Marketing Channels · Channel economicsHow long until an acquired customer repays the cost — the number that connects a channel decision to cash.
  • The spilloverMarket Core · Marketing Channels · Channel economicsWhat this channel does to the performance of the others — because channels are not independent and are almost always measured as though they were.

Market Core · Marketing Channels · The mix3

  • The splitMarket Core · Marketing Channels · The mixHow much is creating demand and how much is capturing it — the allocation decision that everything else follows from.
  • The sequenceMarket Core · Marketing Channels · The mixWhat comes before what, and what depends on what — because something has to create the demand before anything can capture it.
  • The interactionsMarket Core · Marketing Channels · The mixWhere one channel raises or cannibalises another — because a mix managed as independent lines will misread all of them.

Market Core · Marketing Channels · Testing and incrementality3

  • The test designMarket Core · Marketing Channels · Testing and incrementalityWhat is withheld, from whom, for how long — because a badly designed test produces a confident wrong answer.
  • The resultMarket Core · Marketing Channels · Testing and incrementalityThe measured difference, with the noise band it has to exceed — because a difference smaller than normal variation is not a result.
  • The decisionMarket Core · Marketing Channels · Testing and incrementalityWhat the result changes, agreed before the test ran — because afterwards, inconvenient results get explained away.

Market Core · Content Type · The formats3

  • The inventoryMarket Core · Content Type · The formatsEvery format produced, with volume per period — generated from what was actually published rather than remembered.
  • The producersMarket Core · Content Type · The formatsWho makes each format, and how concentrated that is — because production capacity is people rather than budget.
  • The originMarket Core · Content Type · The formatsWhether the format was chosen or inherited — because the inherited ones are where a content audit should start.

Market Core · Content Type · Job per format3

  • The jobMarket Core · Content Type · Job per formatWhat each format is for, in one audience and one stage — because a format with three jobs has none.
  • The coverage mapMarket Core · Content Type · Job per formatWhich stages have content and which have none — because the gaps are usually late in the journey, where they cost most.
  • The joblessMarket Core · Content Type · Job per formatFormats with no assignable job, and what happens to them — because the capacity they consume could fill a gap.

Market Core · Content Type · Production3

  • The stepsMarket Core · Content Type · ProductionResearch, making, review, approval and publishing, with elapsed time each — because the making is rarely the longest part.
  • The constraintMarket Core · Content Type · ProductionWhich step actually sets the lead time — because adding capacity anywhere else lengthens the queue and changes nothing.
  • The cost per formatMarket Core · Content Type · ProductionFully loaded cost of producing one piece of each format — which is what makes the mix decision arithmetic rather than preference.

Market Core · Content Type · Reuse and lifespan3

  • The lifespanMarket Core · Content Type · Reuse and lifespanHow long each format stays useful — because a three-year piece and a three-day piece have completely different economics.
  • The reuse planMarket Core · Content Type · Reuse and lifespanWhat each piece is intended to become, decided before production — because deciding afterwards produces excerpts nobody wants.
  • The retirementMarket Core · Content Type · Reuse and lifespanWhat is unpublished or refreshed when it expires — because old content that is still published is still representing the organisation.

Market Core · Content Calendar · The cadence3

  • The rhythmMarket Core · Content Calendar · The cadenceHow often, per channel and format — set at a level the organisation can hold rather than at what it managed in a good month.
  • The floorMarket Core · Content Calendar · The cadenceThe minimum that will be held regardless of conditions — because a schedule is only worth having if it survives a difficult quarter.
  • The adherenceMarket Core · Content Calendar · The cadenceWhat proportion of scheduled slots were actually filled — the honest measure of whether the calendar means anything.

Market Core · Content Calendar · The plan3

  • The horizonMarket Core · Content Calendar · The planHow far ahead is firm, provisional and thematic — because a plan fixed six months out will be wrong and followed anyway.
  • The slotsMarket Core · Content Calendar · The planWhat is scheduled, when, with an owner each — because a plan with themes and no owners is a list of intentions.
  • The reactive spaceMarket Core · Content Calendar · The planThe deliberately unbooked capacity for what could not be planned — because a fully booked calendar cannot respond to anything.

Market Core · Content Calendar · Seasonal moments3

  • The audience calendarMarket Core · Content Calendar · Seasonal momentsThe fixed points in their year, from their side — because the audience’s calendar and the organisation’s are different documents.
  • The lead timesMarket Core · Content Calendar · Seasonal momentsHow far ahead each moment has to start to be done well — because everyone competes at the same time and preparation is the differentiator.
  • The recordMarket Core · Content Calendar · Seasonal momentsWhat each moment produced, so next year is planned from evidence rather than from tradition.

Market Core · Content Calendar · Capacity3

  • The available capacityMarket Core · Content Calendar · CapacityWhat the organisation can actually produce and approve per period — the figure the plan should be built against rather than compared with afterwards.
  • The constraintMarket Core · Content Calendar · CapacityWhich step limits throughput, which is rarely the writing — and adding capacity elsewhere lengthens the queue.
  • The bufferMarket Core · Content Calendar · CapacityThe reserve that lets the schedule survive an ordinary disruption — because a plan at full capacity breaks visibly.

Market Core · Sales Channels · Route to market3

  • The routesMarket Core · Sales Channels · Route to marketWhat routes are used, and which segments each serves — including the ones that arose without anyone deciding.
  • The tradeMarket Core · Sales Channels · Route to marketReach, margin, control and learning, per route — because no route is good on all four.
  • The coverage mapMarket Core · Sales Channels · Route to marketWhich route serves which segment, decided rather than assumed — because unassigned coverage is what produces conflict.

Market Core · Sales Channels · Channel conflict3

  • The boundariesMarket Core · Sales Channels · Channel conflictWhich route owns which customers, by an explicit rule — because ambiguity is what creates the conflict.
  • The mechanismMarket Core · Sales Channels · Channel conflictDeal registration, price floors and whatever else enforces the boundary — because a rule with no mechanism is a preference.
  • The arbiterMarket Core · Sales Channels · Channel conflictWho rules on cases the boundary does not cover, and how quickly — because disputes arrive with a deadline attached.

Market Core · Sales Channels · Enablement3

  • The essentialsMarket Core · Sales Channels · EnablementWhat the offer is, who it is for, what it costs — in a form someone will actually read.
  • The difficult questionsMarket Core · Sales Channels · EnablementThe four or five hard ones, with answers the channel can use — the material that matters and is almost never provided.
  • The comprehension checkMarket Core · Sales Channels · EnablementWhat the channel actually says when asked to describe the offer — because that is what customers are hearing.

Market Core · Sales Channels · Channel performance3

  • The contributionMarket Core · Sales Channels · Channel performanceWhat each route delivers after margin share and cost to serve — because revenue ranking and contribution ranking differ.
  • The customer qualityMarket Core · Sales Channels · Channel performanceHow customers from this route retain and expand — because quality differs by route, sometimes by more than the margin does.
  • The management costMarket Core · Sales Channels · Channel performanceTime consumed managing the route, which appears on no invoice — and is frequently the largest cost of a partner relationship.

Data Core · KPI management · Choosing what to measure3

  • The candidatesData Core · KPI management · Choosing what to measureMeasures considered, with the decision each would inform — because a candidate with no decision behind it is reporting.
  • The balanceData Core · KPI management · Choosing what to measureHow the chosen set spreads across financial, customer, process and capability — because financial measures alone describe the past.
  • The chosen setData Core · KPI management · Choosing what to measureThe few the organisation is actually run on, with an owner each — capped, so that adding one requires removing one.

Data Core · KPI management · Definitions3

  • The calculationData Core · KPI management · DefinitionsHow the measure is computed, including what is included and excluded — because the exclusions are where the disagreements live.
  • The reproducibility testData Core · KPI management · DefinitionsEvidence that two people get the same answer from the same definition — the only test that establishes a definition is complete.
  • The version recordData Core · KPI management · DefinitionsHow the definition has changed, and where the trend breaks as a result.

Data Core · KPI management · Targets and thresholds3

  • The targetData Core · KPI management · Targets and thresholdsWhat good looks like, with where the number came from — because a target with no derivation is negotiated rather than set.
  • The variation bandData Core · KPI management · Targets and thresholdsHow much the measure moves when nothing has changed — because most reactions to measures are reactions to noise.
  • The action thresholdData Core · KPI management · Targets and thresholdsThe level that triggers a response, and who responds — because a threshold with no action is a colour on a dashboard.

Data Core · KPI management · The review3

  • The rhythmData Core · KPI management · The reviewHow often each measure is reviewed, matched to how fast it moves — because reviewing faster than a measure moves produces reaction to noise.
  • The exceptionsData Core · KPI management · The reviewWhat was outside its band and therefore discussed — because discussing everything spends the meeting on things that have not changed.
  • The decisionsData Core · KPI management · The reviewWhat was decided, by whom, and whether it was checked next time — because a review that decides nothing is a presentation.

Data Core · Data Collection · The sources3

  • The source mapData Core · Data Collection · The sourcesWhere each fact lives, across every system that holds it — because most organisations hold the same fact in three places with three values.
  • The source of truthData Core · Data Collection · The sourcesWhich source is authoritative per fact, and who decided — the small decision that converts a recurring argument into a lookup.
  • The maintenanceData Core · Data Collection · The sourcesHow each source is kept current, and how reliably — because manual sources drift and their drift is invisible.

Data Core · Data Collection · Instrumentation3

  • The tracking planData Core · Data Collection · InstrumentationWhat is captured, where, with which fields — without which instrumentation is discovered by reading code.
  • The joinsData Core · Data Collection · InstrumentationWhether captured data can be connected to a person, account or session — which determines most of what analysis is possible.
  • The gapsData Core · Data Collection · InstrumentationQuestions that cannot be answered with current instrumentation — kept so the next change to the system can close one.

Data Core · Data Collection · Data quality3

  • The measuresData Core · Data Collection · Data qualityCompleteness, accuracy, timeliness and consistency, per data set — measured rather than assumed.
  • The causesData Core · Data Collection · Data qualityWhere quality problems originate, which is usually one step in collection rather than many small failures.
  • The fixesData Core · Data Collection · Data qualityWhat was changed at source, rather than corrected downstream — because a cleaning step fixes one report and source fixes all of them.

Data Core · Data Collection · Consent and basis3

  • The basisData Core · Data Collection · Consent and basisWhat entitles the organisation to hold each data set — recorded per set, because each basis has different consequences.
  • The purposeData Core · Data Collection · Consent and basisWhat it was collected for, which constrains what it may be used for — because the useful new analysis is frequently the one that would breach it.
  • The noticeData Core · Data Collection · Consent and basisWhat people were told, and whether practice still matches it — because the notice is a commitment regardless of who reads it.

Data Core · Performance Analysis · The question3

  • The decisionData Core · Performance Analysis · The questionWhat will be decided on the basis of the answer — because analysis with no decision attached is exploration.
  • The changing answerData Core · Performance Analysis · The questionWhat result would change the decision, and in which direction — the sharpest scoping question available.
  • The precision neededData Core · Performance Analysis · The questionHow accurate the answer has to be to be useful — because precision beyond the decision requirement is expense with no return.

Data Core · Performance Analysis · Method3

  • The approachData Core · Performance Analysis · MethodHow the question will be answered — matched to whether it is descriptive, comparative or causal.
  • The assumptionsData Core · Performance Analysis · MethodWhat has to be true for the method to work — which is where most analyses quietly fail.
  • The limitsData Core · Performance Analysis · MethodWhat this method cannot establish, stated before it runs — so the limitation is part of the design rather than a caveat at the end.

Data Core · Performance Analysis · Reading the result3

  • The findingData Core · Performance Analysis · Reading the resultWhat the analysis actually shows, with effect size — because a real effect too small to matter is expensive to act on.
  • The alternativesData Core · Performance Analysis · Reading the resultOther explanations for the same result, and which can be excluded — because a finding with unexcluded alternatives is a hypothesis.
  • The confidenceData Core · Performance Analysis · Reading the resultHow much weight the finding can bear, stated rather than implied — because an unstated confidence is read as certainty.

Data Core · Performance Analysis · Acting on it3

  • The recommendationData Core · Performance Analysis · Acting on itWhat should be done, by whom, by when — because an analysis ending at a finding leaves the hardest step to whoever reads it.
  • The implementationData Core · Performance Analysis · Acting on itWhether it was actually done — because the rate at which recommendations are implemented measures the analysis function.
  • The outcomeData Core · Performance Analysis · Acting on itWhether the change produced what was predicted — which is how analytical judgement improves rather than merely accumulating.

Data Core · Reporting · What gets reported3

  • The inventoryData Core · Reporting · What gets reportedEverything produced, with what it contains — generated rather than remembered, because the estate is always larger than anyone thinks.
  • The purposeData Core · Reporting · What gets reportedWho asked for each and why, both of which age — because a report requested for a project that ended can go.
  • The duplicatesData Core · Reporting · What gets reportedWhere the same numbers appear in several places — which is common, consolidatable and a source of inconsistency.

Data Core · Reporting · Dashboards3

  • The comparisonData Core · Reporting · DashboardsWhat each number is shown against — because a bare figure carries no information about whether to care.
  • The variationData Core · Reporting · DashboardsThe normal range, made visible so changes can be read without doing arithmetic.
  • The removalsData Core · Reporting · DashboardsElements nobody acts on, and what happened to them — because removing them is what makes the rest visible.

Data Core · Reporting · Distribution3

  • The rhythmData Core · Reporting · DistributionHow often each report goes out, matched to the decision it serves rather than to what is convenient to produce.
  • The routeData Core · Reporting · DistributionHow it reaches people — pushed, published or alerted — because each suits a different kind of information.
  • The timing checkData Core · Reporting · DistributionWhether it arrives before the decision it informs — the check that determines whether good reporting has any effect.

Data Core · Reporting · Whether it is read3

  • The usageData Core · Reporting · Whether it is readWho opens what, how often — measurable in almost every tool and almost never looked at.
  • The unreadData Core · Reporting · Whether it is readReports nobody has opened in a period, with what happened to them.
  • The estate sizeData Core · Reporting · Whether it is readHow the number of reports is changing over time — because an estate that only grows is one nobody is maintaining.

Data Core · Data Governance · Ownership3

  • The ownerData Core · Data Governance · OwnershipWho is accountable for the data set being right — a named person in the business, since a technical function cannot judge whether a value is correct.
  • The custodianData Core · Data Governance · OwnershipWho operates the system it lives in — a distinct role from the owner, and conflating them means nobody judges correctness.
  • The handoverData Core · Data Governance · OwnershipWhat happens to ownership when someone changes role — because it lapses silently and nobody notices for a year.

Data Core · Data Governance · Definitions and lineage3

  • The definition setData Core · Data Governance · Definitions and lineageWhat each term means, held in one place — because local definitions are how the recurring argument starts.
  • The lineageData Core · Data Governance · Definitions and lineageThe path from source to report, including transformations — because most discrepancies originate here rather than in the definition.
  • The change processData Core · Data Governance · Definitions and lineageHow a definition is altered, and who decides — because an unmanaged definition change breaks every trend that uses it.

Data Core · Data Governance · Access3

  • The permissionsData Core · Data Governance · AccessWho may see what, granted by role — because individual grants accumulate with tenure and are never reviewed.
  • The reviewData Core · Data Governance · AccessWhen access was last checked and what was removed — because permissions are granted readily and revoked rarely.
  • The workaroundsData Core · Data Governance · AccessWhere people are routing around access controls, and why — because exported spreadsheets are a symptom rather than a violation.

Data Core · Data Governance · Retention and deletion3

  • The scheduleData Core · Data Governance · Retention and deletionHow long each data type is kept, and why — derived from obligation and use rather than from storage cost.
  • The mechanismData Core · Data Governance · Retention and deletionWhat actually performs the deletion, and whether it runs — because a policy executed manually is a policy that is not executed.
  • The conflictsData Core · Data Governance · Retention and deletionWhere retention and deletion obligations collide, and how that was resolved — because leaving it undecided lets whichever system acts first decide.

Omni Core · Customer Journey Mapping · Mapping the journey3

  • The stagesOmni Core · Customer Journey Mapping · Mapping the journeyWhat happens to the customer, in order, from their account rather than from the internal process.
  • The internal activityOmni Core · Customer Journey Mapping · Mapping the journeyWhat the organisation is doing behind each stage — the pairing that makes causes visible.
  • The invisible partsOmni Core · Customer Journey Mapping · Mapping the journeyWhat happens to the customer that the organisation never sees — usually the majority of the journey.

Omni Core · Customer Journey Mapping · Moments that matter3

  • The peaksOmni Core · Customer Journey Mapping · Moments that matterThe most intense moments, favourable and unfavourable — because both dominate how the whole is remembered.
  • The endingOmni Core · Customer Journey Mapping · Moments that matterThe final interaction, which shapes the memory disproportionately and is usually the least designed.
  • The prioritiesOmni Core · Customer Journey Mapping · Moments that matterWhich few moments effort should concentrate on, because improving three does more than improving fifteen.

Omni Core · Customer Journey Mapping · Channel handovers3

  • The handoversOmni Core · Customer Journey Mapping · Channel handoversEvery point where the customer moves between people, teams or channels — the count of which predicts the effort they experience.
  • The context lossOmni Core · Customer Journey Mapping · Channel handoversWhat the receiving side does not know, and what the customer therefore repeats.
  • The removalsOmni Core · Customer Journey Mapping · Channel handoversHandovers that were eliminated rather than improved — because one that does not happen cannot fail.

Omni Core · Customer Journey Mapping · Redesign3

  • The changesOmni Core · Customer Journey Mapping · RedesignWhat is being changed in the journey, and where — kept to a few, because three that happen beat thirty documented.
  • The internal requirementOmni Core · Customer Journey Mapping · RedesignWhat has to change inside the organisation for it to happen — because a journey change with no internal change attached will not.
  • The measurementOmni Core · Customer Journey Mapping · RedesignWhether the specific moment actually improved — rather than whether overall satisfaction moved, which is too noisy to attribute.

Omni Core · Customer Feedback · Gathering it3

  • The instrumentOmni Core · Customer Feedback · Gathering itWhat is asked, of whom, and when — because timing shapes the answer as much as the question does.
  • The coverageOmni Core · Customer Feedback · Gathering itWho answers and who is systematically missing — because the missing groups hold the information nobody has.
  • The unsolicitedOmni Core · Customer Feedback · Gathering itFeedback that arrives without being requested — abundant, free, and usually unread as a set.

Omni Core · Customer Feedback · Reading the signal3

  • The categoriesOmni Core · Customer Feedback · Reading the signalThe stable set that comments are coded into — because free text that is never coded is text that is never used.
  • The weightingOmni Core · Customer Feedback · Reading the signalFrequency against severity, held apart — because a common minor irritation and a rare serious failure both matter, differently.
  • The verbatim sampleOmni Core · Customer Feedback · Reading the signalWhat reading the raw comments shows that the coding cannot.

Omni Core · Customer Feedback · Routing3

  • The destinationsOmni Core · Customer Feedback · RoutingWhich function owns each feedback category — because feedback arrives where it is convenient and concerns something else.
  • The handoffOmni Core · Customer Feedback · RoutingWhat is actually sent, and in what form — because a summarised complaint loses what made it actionable.
  • The outcomeOmni Core · Customer Feedback · RoutingWhat happened to the feedback after it was routed — because routed and acted on are different things.

Omni Core · Customer Feedback · Closing the loop3

  • The individual responseOmni Core · Customer Feedback · Closing the loopWhat the person who raised it hears back — the cheapest thing in this object and the one most often skipped.
  • The collective reportOmni Core · Customer Feedback · Closing the loopWhat was raised and what changed, published to everyone — read by more people than raised it.
  • The response rateOmni Core · Customer Feedback · Closing the loopWhether people keep answering — the loop’s real measure, and it moves before anything else does.

Omni Core · Customer Support · Getting help3

  • The routesOmni Core · Customer Support · Getting helpHow customers can reach help, and for what — because offering one route fails everyone whose need does not match it.
  • The effortOmni Core · Customer Support · Getting helpHow many steps it takes to reach someone who can help — because difficulty of access predicts loyalty better than satisfaction with the answer.
  • The abandonedOmni Core · Customer Support · Getting helpPeople who tried to get help and stopped — invisible unless deliberately looked for.

Omni Core · Customer Support · Resolution3

  • The definitionOmni Core · Customer Support · ResolutionWhat counts as resolved, from the customer’s side — because the problem stopping and the ticket closing are different events.
  • The repeat rateOmni Core · Customer Support · ResolutionHow often the same person returns about the same thing — the closest available measure of whether anything was solved.
  • The confirmationOmni Core · Customer Support · ResolutionWhether the customer says it was actually solved — a single question that produces a better measure than any internal proxy.

Omni Core · Customer Support · Self-service and knowledge3

  • The contentOmni Core · Customer Support · Self-service and knowledgeWhat exists, driven by the questions actually asked rather than by what someone thought should be documented.
  • The findabilityOmni Core · Customer Support · Self-service and knowledgeWhether the answer can be reached faster than asking a person — because that is the only comparison the customer is making.
  • The deflectionOmni Core · Customer Support · Self-service and knowledgeWhether reading it actually avoids a contact — because a visit followed by a contact is a failed article counted as a success.

Omni Core · Customer Support · Escalation3

  • The triggerOmni Core · Customer Support · EscalationWhat causes a case to escalate, and who decides — because an unclear trigger means cases escalate late or never.
  • The context transferOmni Core · Customer Support · EscalationWhat travels with the case so the customer does not repeat themselves.
  • The time limitOmni Core · Customer Support · EscalationWhen an unresolved escalation is reviewed by someone accountable — because escalated cases disappear.

Omni Core · UI and UX Optimization · Understanding use3

  • The observationOmni Core · UI and UX Optimization · Understanding useWhat was seen when real people used it — the cheapest research available and the one most often skipped.
  • The analyticsOmni Core · UI and UX Optimization · Understanding useWhere the data says people struggle — useful for finding where, useless for finding why.
  • The workaroundsOmni Core · UI and UX Optimization · Understanding useWhat people do instead of the intended path — each one a design problem they have already solved.

Omni Core · UI and UX Optimization · Design decisions3

  • The decisionOmni Core · UI and UX Optimization · Design decisionsWhat was chosen — recorded so a later change knows what it is changing.
  • The rationaleOmni Core · UI and UX Optimization · Design decisionsWhat problem it solves, which the interface cannot show — the part that prevents the decision being undone.
  • The rejectedOmni Core · UI and UX Optimization · Design decisionsWhat was tried and did not work — because the obvious improvement has usually already been attempted.

Omni Core · UI and UX Optimization · Testing changes3

  • The measureOmni Core · UI and UX Optimization · Testing changesWhat the change is meant to improve, agreed in advance — because deciding afterwards means the winning metric is chosen from the results.
  • The powerOmni Core · UI and UX Optimization · Testing changesWhether the available volume can detect the effect that matters — because an underpowered test produces noise presented as evidence.
  • The resultOmni Core · UI and UX Optimization · Testing changesWhat happened, including the nulls — because the nulls are the majority and are what keeps expectations calibrated.

Omni Core · UI and UX Optimization · Accessibility3

  • The standardOmni Core · UI and UX Optimization · AccessibilityWhich guidelines apply and at what conformance level — because a named level makes the requirement checkable.
  • The testingOmni Core · UI and UX Optimization · AccessibilityWhat is checked automatically and what is checked by a person — because automated tools catch a minority.
  • The obligationsOmni Core · UI and UX Optimization · AccessibilityWhat is legally required, and where that is recorded — because accessibility obligations sit with the other compliance obligations.

Omni Core · Personalization · What is personalised3

  • The inventoryOmni Core · Personalization · What is personalisedEverything that varies by person — a list that is longer than expected and includes things nobody remembers building.
  • The benefitOmni Core · Personalization · What is personalisedWhat the customer gains from each variation — and where the honest answer is only that the organisation gains, saying so.
  • The maintenanceOmni Core · Personalization · What is personalisedWhat keeping each variant current costs — a continuous cost that is rarely set against what the personalisation produces.

Omni Core · Personalization · The signals3

  • The signal setOmni Core · Personalization · The signalsWhat each personalisation is based on — stated preference, observed behaviour or inferred attribute.
  • The accuracyOmni Core · Personalization · The signalsHow often each inference is right — because a wrong inference is experienced as being misunderstood.
  • The correctionOmni Core · Personalization · The signalsHow a customer can fix a wrong inference — because a visible and correctable inference is tolerated and an invisible wrong one is not.

Omni Core · Personalization · The limits3

  • The exclusionsOmni Core · Personalization · The limitsWhat the organisation will not personalise on — written down, because otherwise each new capability is applied because it is available.
  • The visibilityOmni Core · Personalization · The limitsWhether the customer can see why they are seeing this — because unexplained relevance is unsettling and explained relevance is not.
  • The reasoningOmni Core · Personalization · The limitsWhy each limit exists, so it is not eroded by the next capability that makes crossing it easy.

Omni Core · Personalization · Whether it works3

  • The controlOmni Core · Personalization · Whether it worksThe non-personalised group held back for comparison — permanently, not just at launch.
  • The customer measureOmni Core · Personalization · Whether it worksWhether it improved anything for the customer, not only for conversion — because the two can move in opposite directions.
  • The decisionOmni Core · Personalization · Whether it worksWhat was kept, changed or removed as a result — because untested personalisation is a permanent cost with no established benefit.

Omni Core · Loyalty Programs · The mechanism3

  • The earningOmni Core · Loyalty Programs · The mechanismWhat behaviour earns, and at what rate — because whatever earns is what the programme is actually asking for.
  • The redemptionOmni Core · Loyalty Programs · The mechanismWhat can be obtained, and whether it feels worth it — because redemption is what determines perceived value.
  • The comprehensionOmni Core · Loyalty Programs · The mechanismWhether members can actually explain how it works — because behaviour changes only when someone can see the consequence of a choice.

Omni Core · Loyalty Programs · The economics3

  • The costOmni Core · Loyalty Programs · The economicsRedemption cost plus running cost per period — the second of which is consistently forgotten.
  • The liabilityOmni Core · Loyalty Programs · The economicsPoints earned and not yet redeemed, valued — an obligation that grows with the programme and appears long after the decision.
  • The returnOmni Core · Loyalty Programs · The economicsWhat the programme produces, against what it costs — measured incrementally rather than by comparing members with non-members.

Omni Core · Loyalty Programs · Behaviour change3

  • The controlOmni Core · Loyalty Programs · Behaviour changeComparable customers without the programme — awkward to arrange and the whole question.
  • The measured changeOmni Core · Loyalty Programs · Behaviour changeWhat actually differs, in the behaviour the programme targets rather than in whatever moved.
  • The verdictOmni Core · Loyalty Programs · Behaviour changeWhether the programme is producing incremental behaviour, stated plainly enough to act on.

Omni Core · Loyalty Programs · Winding down3

  • The noticeOmni Core · Loyalty Programs · Winding downHow long members have before the change takes effect — because anything short is experienced as confiscation whatever the terms say.
  • The honouringOmni Core · Loyalty Programs · Winding downWhat happens to points already earned — where the saving from not honouring them is small and the damage is not.
  • The explanationOmni Core · Loyalty Programs · Winding downWhat members are told, and whether it is honest about being a reduction.

Omni Core · Omnichannel Integration · One identity3

  • The matchingOmni Core · Omnichannel Integration · One identityHow interactions are attributed to a person — the precondition for everything else in this object.
  • The failure rateOmni Core · Omnichannel Integration · One identityHow often resolution fails, and how often it matches wrongly — because the second failure is worse than the first.
  • The customer routeOmni Core · Omnichannel Integration · One identityHow a customer can link their own records — because many will, if it is easy and the benefit is visible.

Omni Core · Omnichannel Integration · Continuity of state3

  • The carried contextOmni Core · Omnichannel Integration · Continuity of stateWhat travels with the customer between channels — smaller than it appears, which is why the project should start.
  • The visibilityOmni Core · Omnichannel Integration · Continuity of stateWhether the person on the other side can actually see it — because passing context and using it are different.
  • The repetition measureOmni Core · Omnichannel Integration · Continuity of stateHow often customers have to say things twice — measurable, rarely measured, and the thing they actually notice.

Omni Core · Omnichannel Integration · Channel parity3

  • The capability mapOmni Core · Omnichannel Integration · Channel parityWhat can be done in each channel — a grid in which the gaps are the point.
  • The deliberate differencesOmni Core · Omnichannel Integration · Channel parityCapabilities intentionally absent from a channel — because complete parity is expensive and rarely worth having.
  • The strandingsOmni Core · Omnichannel Integration · Channel parityWhere a customer can start something they cannot finish — the worst arrangement available.

Omni Core · Omnichannel Integration · The seams3

  • The seam listOmni Core · Omnichannel Integration · The seamsWhere the boundaries are visible to the customer — the list that turns integration into a backlog.
  • The costOmni Core · Omnichannel Integration · The seamsHow many customers hit each and what it costs when they do — because that is what decides which seams are worth closing.
  • The acceptedOmni Core · Omnichannel Integration · The seamsSeams the organisation has decided not to close — recorded explicitly, so they stop being raised at every review.

Time Core · Project management · Defining the work3

  • The scopeTime Core · Project management · Defining the workWhat is being done, and what is deliberately not — the second half doing most of the work.
  • The definition of doneTime Core · Project management · Defining the workWhat would have to be true for this to be finished, in terms someone could check.
  • The change recordTime Core · Project management · Defining the workWhat was added or removed, when, and who agreed — because scope change is normal and scope drift is change nobody recorded.

Time Core · Project management · Sequence3

  • The dependenciesTime Core · Project management · SequenceWhat has to happen before what — mapped before durations, since the order matters more than the estimates.
  • The external itemsTime Core · Project management · SequenceWhat the project waits on that it does not control — where the date actually slips.
  • The critical chainTime Core · Project management · SequenceThe path that actually determines the date — because improving anything off it changes nothing.

Time Core · Project management · Running it3

  • The progress measureTime Core · Project management · Running itWhat is actually finished, established rather than reported — because percentage complete is an opinion.
  • The change logTime Core · Project management · Running itWhat was added or changed, and what it cost in time — because absorbing changes without adjusting the date is how projects slip invisibly.
  • The early warningTime Core · Project management · Running itWhat would show a problem before the deadline does — because a project is reported on track until shortly before it is not.

Time Core · Project management · Closing3

  • The acceptanceTime Core · Project management · ClosingConfirmation against the definition of done, by someone who can accept it.
  • The handoverTime Core · Project management · ClosingWho runs it now, and what they were given.
  • The recordTime Core · Project management · ClosingEstimated against actual, and what accounts for the difference — the entire basis on which the next estimate can be better.

Time Core · Market Timing · Market readiness3

  • The problem awarenessTime Core · Market Timing · Market readinessWhether buyers already know they have the problem — because if you have to explain it first, someone else will sell to the educated market.
  • The prerequisitesTime Core · Market Timing · Market readinessWhat has to exist for the solution to work at all — each one checkable, and their absence is the answer.
  • The existing spendingTime Core · Market Timing · Market readinessWhat is already being spent on the problem today — the strongest readiness evidence available.

Time Core · Market Timing · The window3

  • The openingTime Core · Market Timing · The windowWhat created the window — because without naming it the duration cannot be estimated at all.
  • The durationTime Core · Market Timing · The windowHow long it is expected to last, and what closes it — because an opening with no estimated duration is treated as permanent.
  • The lead timeTime Core · Market Timing · The windowHow long the organisation needs to be ready — because where that exceeds the window, the decision is already made.

Time Core · Market Timing · Signals to watch3

  • The indicatorsTime Core · Market Timing · Signals to watchWhat is being watched, and what it would indicate — two or three things rather than a dashboard.
  • The thresholdTime Core · Market Timing · Signals to watchThe reading at which the market counts as ready — agreed in advance, so the reading is not interpreted to suit.
  • The watcherTime Core · Market Timing · Signals to watchWho checks, how often, and what they do when it fires.

Time Core · Market Timing · Early and late3

  • The early costTime Core · Market Timing · Early and lateWhat entering before the market is ready would consume — usually cash, for longer than anyone plans.
  • The late costTime Core · Market Timing · Early and lateWhat displacing an established position would take — considerably more than reaching an empty market.
  • The advantage testTime Core · Market Timing · Early and lateWhether being first actually confers anything here — because first-mover advantage holds under specific conditions and is assumed generally.

Time Core · Golden Opportunities · Recognising them3

  • The patternTime Core · Golden Opportunities · Recognising themWhat an exceptional opportunity tends to look like here — described concretely, so that someone encountering one recognises it.
  • The routeTime Core · Golden Opportunities · Recognising themHow someone raises one, and to whom — because the person who sees it first is usually far from the decision.
  • The responseTime Core · Golden Opportunities · Recognising themWhat happens when someone raises something — including when it is not an opportunity.

Time Core · Golden Opportunities · Qualifying3

  • The questionsTime Core · Golden Opportunities · QualifyingThe few things that would settle whether it is real — written in advance, answerable in a day.
  • The deadlineTime Core · Golden Opportunities · QualifyingWhen the decision has to be taken — set from how long the opportunity lasts rather than from the meeting cycle.
  • The authorityTime Core · Golden Opportunities · QualifyingWho can decide, and up to what commitment — because a small opportunity requiring a board decision is a declined opportunity.

Time Core · Golden Opportunities · Capacity to act3

  • The reserveTime Core · Golden Opportunities · Capacity to actUncommitted budget held deliberately — its purpose being to be available rather than to be spent.
  • The releasable peopleTime Core · Golden Opportunities · Capacity to actWho could be freed quickly, and what would stop — because money without people is not capacity to act.
  • The authorityTime Core · Golden Opportunities · Capacity to actWhat can be committed without a planning cycle — because speed requires that acting is not an exception.

Time Core · Golden Opportunities · The record3

  • The decisionsTime Core · Golden Opportunities · The recordWhat was taken and what was declined, with the reasoning — the declines being the more informative half.
  • The expectationTime Core · Golden Opportunities · The recordWhat was expected to happen, recorded at the time — because expectations reconstructed afterwards match whatever occurred.
  • The reviewTime Core · Golden Opportunities · The recordWhat actually happened, checked later — uncomfortable and the only thing that calibrates.

Time Core · Contingency Planning · Slippage3

  • The historyTime Core · Contingency Planning · SlippageHow late things have actually run — the organisation’s own record rather than a general assumption about optimism.
  • The ratioTime Core · Contingency Planning · SlippageActual over planned, as a single number — the most useful figure in planning and one almost nobody has.
  • The usual suspectsTime Core · Contingency Planning · SlippageWhere the delay reliably comes from — because it is the same few sources every time.

Time Core · Contingency Planning · Buffers3

  • The reserveTime Core · Contingency Planning · BuffersTime held deliberately, sized from the record and placed where it protects the commitment.
  • The consumptionTime Core · Contingency Planning · BuffersHow much of the buffer has been used against how far the work has come — the earliest reliable signal that a date is in trouble.
  • The protectionTime Core · Contingency Planning · BuffersWhat stops the buffer being planned away — because a visible buffer is a permanent invitation.

Time Core · Contingency Planning · The fallback plan3

  • The alternativeTime Core · Contingency Planning · The fallback planWhat is done instead if the main plan will not deliver — worked out in advance, when there is time to think.
  • The lead timeTime Core · Contingency Planning · The fallback planHow long the alternative takes to start — which is what sets the last moment the decision can be taken.
  • The triggerTime Core · Contingency Planning · The fallback planWhat would cause the fallback to be used, stated as an observable condition rather than as a judgement.

Time Core · Contingency Planning · Decision points3

  • The dateTime Core · Contingency Planning · Decision pointsWhen the choice is made, set from the fallback’s lead time and put in a calendar.
  • The criterionTime Core · Contingency Planning · Decision pointsWhat is looked at on the day — agreed in advance, so the decision is not argued from scratch under pressure.
  • The decisionTime Core · Contingency Planning · Decision pointsWho makes the call, and the fact that deferring it is itself a decision with a consequence.

Time Core · Year Wheel · The cycle3

  • The demand cycleTime Core · Year Wheel · The cycleWhen customers buy across the year — measured from the organisation’s own history rather than assumed from the sector.
  • The operating cycleTime Core · Year Wheel · The cycleWhen the organisation is busy internally — which is a different shape from the demand cycle and rarely plotted alongside it.
  • The collisionsTime Core · Year Wheel · The cycleWhere the two cycles land on top of each other — usually the same two or three months every year.

Time Core · Year Wheel · Fixed points3

  • The immovableTime Core · Year Wheel · Fixed pointsThe dates that genuinely cannot move — a short list, and shorter than the one most organisations carry.
  • The freeze periodsTime Core · Year Wheel · Fixed pointsWhen change is not allowed, because the cost of getting it wrong is at its highest.
  • The assumed-fixedTime Core · Year Wheel · Fixed pointsDates treated as immovable that are actually habits — and are usually the cheapest flexibility available.

Time Core · Year Wheel · Load across the year3

  • The real capacityTime Core · Year Wheel · Load across the yearHow much the organisation can actually do in a given month, after everything that is already spoken for.
  • The committed loadTime Core · Year Wheel · Load across the yearWhat has already been promised, placed in the months it will actually land in.
  • The over-commitmentTime Core · Year Wheel · Load across the yearThe months where committed load exceeds real capacity — visible in advance, and resolvable while it is still theoretical.

Time Core · Year Wheel · The review rhythm3

  • The cadencesTime Core · Year Wheel · The review rhythmWhat is reviewed weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually — matched to how fast each thing actually changes.
  • The distributionTime Core · Year Wheel · The review rhythmWhere the reviews sit across the year, and whether they land in the months that can carry them.
  • The adherenceTime Core · Year Wheel · The review rhythmWhether the rhythm is actually kept — because a rhythm that lapses under pressure lapses when it is most needed.

The other levels

Cores

One of the eight domains a business is made of. The Goal Core sits at the centre with purpose in it; the other seven turn around it.

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Objects

A named area within a core — Finance, Brand Positioning, Target Audience. Around fifty across the whole framework.

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Modules

A working sub-area of an object, where one is needed. Budgeting within Finance; segmentation within Target Audience.

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Elements

A constituent part of a component — the sections a deliverable is actually built from.

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Attributes

The smallest level: a single property an element carries. Attributes are shared across all eight cores rather than defined in each.

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