The Allure of Diagnosis
There’s something that happens to many of us—consultants, analysts, or executives—when we sit down to dissect a company’s reality: we get excited about the diagnosis phase. That moment when, after poring over data, interviews, and countless PowerPoint slides, patterns, deviations, opportunities, or inefficiencies begin to emerge—things no one had previously laid out in a structured way. We like bringing order to chaos. Let’s be honest: we get a kick out of it.
Putting it in black and white isn’t always uncovering something new
But there’s something we too often forget: more often than not, we’re not uncovering anything new. What we’re doing—and let’s be clear, it’s already valuable—is putting into black and white, with hard numbers and solid arguments, what people inside the company have long seen, sensed, or even suffered.
The sales team knows there’s a lack of alignment with marketing. The operations manager had a hunch that profit margins were being squeezed by a particular supplier. The CEO suspected that staff turnover was worse than HR admitted—some reasons were obvious, others more subtle and harder to pin down.
The real value: solution and execution
In those cases, our true value isn’t just confirming it, or delivering a report that says, “See? I told you so.”
“What the company or client actually needs is a clear—and above all, actionable—solution.”
Otherwise, the diagnosis becomes just another slide for the intranet. A footnote. A dead document.
Three layers that need to align
The real craft lies in aligning three layers effectively:
- Diagnosis: solid, understandable, based on verifiable data.
- Action proposals: concrete, prioritized, realistic within the company’s context.
- Execution plan: clear steps, defined responsibilities, timelines, and follow-up metrics.
This is where many consultancies, audits, or managers fall short: they jump from diagnosis straight to grand PowerPoint recommendations but fail to roll up their sleeves and turn those recommendations into actual tasks—with owners and budgets.
Ultimately, the execution plan must be grounded in reality -in other words, doable in the company’s real context. Feasibility is key.
Diagnose to solve
Diagnosing for the sake of diagnosing is, at best, an ego trip—and at worst, a waste of time and money.
“Diagnosing to solve, on the other hand, means getting your hands dirty, translating strategy into action, and sticking around to ensure the gap between knowing and doing disappears.”
Because in the end, the one hiring you doesn’t just want to know what’s broken.
They want to know how to fix it.
And—above all—they want to see it get fixed.
