Human-reviewed business diagnosis
Replace conflicting advice with a defensible first move.
The 216-Path Business Assessment decomposes the problem, challenges the current diagnosis, compares alternative interventions and recommends the smallest action likely to produce useful evidence.
Every assessment begins with the free Problem Route Scan — it is how we scope it honestly.
When to use it
Seven conditions that justify a structured diagnosis.
If none of these describe you, the scan will say so and you should not buy this.
- Multiple providers recommend different solutions
- Previous attempts failed or produced temporary results
- The problem crosses brand, marketing, sales, operations or technology
- The next decision is expensive or difficult to reverse
- The team cannot agree on the cause
- The business is buying activity without progress
- You need to know what should happen first
Process
Six stages, in this order.
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Scope
Define the question, decision, stakeholders, evidence and constraints.
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Decompose
Map objects, conditions, actions, tools, resources, dependencies and outcomes.
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Generate
Use morphological variety to expose paths the current framing excludes.
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Filter
Remove paths that fail evidence, feasibility, risk, cost, time or strategic-fit tests.
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Recommend
Select a first move and explain why it precedes the alternatives.
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Route
Define the internal owner, affiliated company or outside specialist required.
Deliverables
Fourteen artefacts you can hand to someone else.
The brief is written so a stakeholder who was not in the room can evaluate the reasoning, not just the conclusion.
- Refined problem statement
- System and stakeholder map
- Symptom-versus-constraint analysis
- Hidden assumptions
- Alternative explanations
- 216-state discovery output
- Evidence and uncertainty register
- Intervention comparison
- Urgency, reversibility and cost analysis
- Smallest sufficient intervention
- Recommended provider criteria
- Disclosed routing recommendation
- 30-day evidence plan
- Stop conditions and review date
Pricing framework
Three levels, scoped to the decision.
These are the ranges engagements typically fall within. The scan and the routing consultation determine which level applies before anything is quoted — we do not price before we understand the question.
| Level | Suggested range | Scope | When it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focused Assessment | $497 – $1,500 | One primary question, limited stakeholders and a concise decision brief. | A single expensive decision where the cause is contested but the scope is contained. |
| Executive Decision Brief | $2,500 – $7,500 | High-stakes or cross-functional decision with interviews, evidence review, scenarios and executive presentation. | Irreversible, politically difficult, or requiring several stakeholders to agree before it can proceed. |
| Routing Stewardship | $500 – $2,500 / month | Recurring constraint review, provider coordination and reallocation as evidence changes. | Businesses whose constraints keep moving, and who are coordinating more than one provider. |
Relationship disclosure
We tell you who we are related to, before you engage them.
Variety Portal evaluates multiple paths. When we recommend a company affiliated with Variety Portal, we disclose that relationship. When an outside specialist is a better fit, we can recommend or help source one. Referral or commercial relationships are disclosed before engagement.