Establishing Truth Before You Implement
The Workflow Stability Assessment is a fixed-scope diagnostic designed to establish operational truth before anything is changed.
It exists to prevent premature automation, fragile fixes, and tool decisions that quietly create new failure points. We do not implement systems without completing this assessment.
Insurance against bad decisions
The assessment stops expensive mistakes before they happen:
- Premature automation — building on unstable workflows
- Rework cycles — fixing things that should have been stabilized first
- Tool churn — switching software when the problem is process
- Political fights — arguing over ownership that was never explicit
What you walk away with:
- A documented stability verdict
- A map of workflow failure points
- Identified ownership gaps
- Automation readiness determination
- Clear next steps (with or without us)
Fixed scope. No hourly billing. No discovery that drags on.
The assessment exists to deliver an operational verdict by answering four questions decisively:
- Where does work actually break?
- Why does it break?
- Who owns decisions and exceptions — in reality, not on paper?
- What should be fixed first — and what should not be touched yet?
What life looks like after
The assessment produces documentation, but its real value is relief. Teams typically have:
- Shared understanding of how work actually flows
- Fewer arguments based on opinions and "best guesses"
- Clearer boundaries between different roles and handoffs
- A short list of safe, sequenced next moves
In some cases, the safest move is simply to pause. We provide the evidence needed to make that call.
"The assessment gave us permission to stop solving the wrong problems."
Workflow Stability Triage — $495
A paid, structured conversation for perspective and decision support.
Triage isn't a sales trap — it's the paid step for deciding scope. Many teams stop here once the bottleneck becomes obvious.
Learn about TriageThe next step is clarity.
If you're not ready to define scope and ownership reality, the assessment will feel premature. If you are ready, we should talk.
Options come after evidence.
Four deliverables. No fluff.
Stability Verdict
Clear assessment of whether workflows are stable enough to change safely.
Failure Map
Documentation of where work actually breaks and why.
Ownership Matrix
Who owns what in practice — decisions, exceptions, escalations.
Sequencing Guide
What to fix first, what to leave alone, and what to monitor.
Sample assessment structure
Every assessment delivers a document with this structure. This is what operational clarity looks like in writing:
1. Executive Verdict
- Stability determination (ready / not ready / conditionally ready)
- Critical blockers identified
- Recommended next step (stop, stabilize, or implement)
2. Workflow Failure Map
- Primary failure points with root cause
- Silent failures currently undetected
- Exception patterns and frequency
3. Ownership Matrix
- Decision owners by workflow stage
- Gaps where ownership is implicit or missing
- Handoff responsibilities clarified
4. Sequencing Guidance
- What to stabilize first (and why)
- What's safe to automate now vs. later
- Dependencies and order of operations
This is not a recommendations deck. It's a written verdict with specific findings.
All assessment artifacts are yours to keep, reuse, and share internally. No retainers or ongoing access fees.
What happens after delivery
Stop
Many clients start and stop at the verdict. That's a win. You now have documented clarity you can act on internally or use to evaluate vendors.
Most commonStabilize
If the verdict identifies structural issues, we can lead stabilization work: clarifying ownership, documenting decision logic, and building exception protocols.
Implement
If workflows are stable, we can support automation implementation with the safeguards and validation that stable foundations enable.
Completion Criteria
The assessment is complete when leadership can clearly answer:
- What's unstable
- Why it's unstable
- Whether automation is safe
- What must happen next (or not)
How we diagnose workflows
Most workflow problems are not technical. They're structural, behavioral, and invisible until something breaks.
What we look at first
We start with how work actually moves — not how it's described. We look for:
- Where work pauses or loops
- Where decisions are deferred or escalated
- Where people override systems
- Where "exceptions" are normal, not rare
- Where responsibility becomes unclear under pressure
These signals predict whether changes will stabilize or destabilize further.
How we identify ownership gaps
Ownership gaps rarely show up as missing job titles. They show up as behavior:
- "I thought someone else handled that."
- Decisions that change depending on who is available
- Escalations that default upward without clarity
- Work that stalls because no one can approve the next step
We trace ownership to reality, not org charts.
Symptoms (what we see)
- Rework
- Delays
- Tool complaints
- Manual fixes
- "We just need automation"
Root causes (what we find)
- Unclear decision rules
- Implicit dependencies
- Unowned exceptions
- Conflicting incentives
- Process that exists only in documentation
Common Questions
Why can't we skip the assessment?
Implementation without stability creates risk. We don't take work that we know will fail.
What if we only want the assessment?
That's common and respected. Many clients stop after receiving clarity — that's often the right call.
How disruptive is this?
Minimal. Interviews are focused, grounded in current behavior, and typically take 30-60 minutes per stakeholder.
Do you recommend tools?
Only if warranted, and only after stability is established. We don't sell software.
How long does this take?
Most assessments complete in 10–14 business days from kickoff to final delivery.
In short
The Workflow Stability Assessment is a fixed-scope diagnostic that tells you whether your operations are stable enough to automate. In ~2 weeks, you receive a written verdict documenting where work breaks, who owns what, and what should change first (or not at all). Pricing is $8,000–$10,000 for the full assessment, or $495 for a triage session.
Request Assessment
Tell us about your operation. We'll follow up if there's a fit.