Discovery & Signal Mapping
Read the system before recommending anything.
Step 1
How it works
I map the current state of whatever I am being asked to work on — code, infrastructure, tracking, content, or process — and write up what I find before making a single recommendation.
Engagements I take on start with diagnosis. I read the system as it actually is, not as it is reported to be — that usually means pulling data from the databases and logs directly, reading deployment and CI configuration, and looking at what the code does instead of what the documentation says. The output of this phase is a written assessment of the real state: what is working, what is not, and what is unmeasurable. Most engagements I have seen fail when someone skips this step and starts recommending changes on top of a picture that does not match reality.
What this covers
Key activities
The specific areas I focus on during this phase.
- Direct system read
- I work from the source — databases, logs, CI configuration, deployment scripts — not reports built on top of reports.
- Baseline measurement
- I establish a written baseline of the current state before recommending anything. Without a baseline the engagement cannot be verified.
- Findings document
- A written summary of what the system is actually doing, with specific findings grouped by severity and surface area.
- Impact sizing
- Each finding gets a rough estimate — usually a range, not a single number — of what addressing it is worth.
Outcomes
What gets produced
Concrete artifacts from this phase.
- Written findings document
- A structured document describing the real state of the system, with specific findings and severity ratings.
- Prioritized work list
- A ranked list of findings scored by impact, effort, and dependency — the sequence for what should be addressed first.
- Baseline metrics
- The measurable starting point so every future change can be verified against a benchmark instead of assumed.
See how this fits together
The process steps sit inside the larger shape of a consulting engagement. Read about the areas I take on outside work, or browse the portfolio.