Decision Opportunity Audit
Two to three weeks, one number, and one of three words
The audit is the smallest thing we sell and the one we would rather you bought first. A partner spends two to three weeks with the people who make one of your repeated decisions, works out what a better method would be worth on your own figures, and comes back with a recommendation: go, reshape, or stop. The fee is fixed and agreed before we start. And if there is a next step, the fee is credited against it.
Judge the quality of the thinking before you pay for it: a full illustrative deliverable, on a synthetic company.
What it is
What it answers
One question: is there a decision here valuable enough, and tractable enough, to justify proving a better method? To answer it we map the decision, put economics on it, look at the data you have (the data you wish you had is a separate conversation), and set out the shortest credible path to a result. You leave with something you can act on. Sometimes that is a recommendation not to build anything, and that is the cheapest advice we give and the hardest to sell.
Who it is for
Who it is for
- A leader who suspects a repeated decision is quietly costing money, but cannot yet size it
- A team weighing a build and wanting an honest read before committing budget
- An operator whose plans, allocations or acceptances feel wrong but hard to prove wrong
- Anyone who wants to know whether a better method exists before paying to build one
The process
The three weeks
The same small senior team runs it from start to finish, and the partner who sold it is the partner who runs it. That is not a courtesy. The recommendation stays honest that way, because the person giving it will be the one who has to deliver on it.
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Week 1
Frame and map
We meet the people who own the decision, walk live cases, and map how the choice is made today: its inputs, its constraints and where it goes wrong.
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Week 1–2
Quantify and assess
We put an economic baseline on the decision, assess the data and integration reality, and review prior art so effort is not wasted reinventing what exists.
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Week 2–3
Recommend
We shortlist interventions, design the Proof of Value that would test the best of them, draft a 90-day plan, and deliver a clear go, reshape or stop.
Deliverables
What you receive
Ten documents, each written to be used by whoever has to make the call, and none of them a slide deck.
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Decision map
The decision, its triggers, inputs, constraints and where it currently fails.
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Economic baseline
What the decision costs when answered badly, and the value a better method could return.
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Stakeholder & workflow map
Who owns the decision, who acts on it, and where a system would have to fit.
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Data & integration assessment
What data exists, its quality and latency, and the realistic route to reach and act on it.
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Prior-art review
Relevant methods, products and research, so you buy or reuse before anyone reinvents.
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Uncertainty & risk register
The assumptions the case rests on, and what would most change the answer.
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Shortlist of interventions
The candidate methods worth proving, ranked by value and tractability.
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Proposed Proof-of-Value design
The baseline, success threshold, data and decision date for the next step.
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90-day execution plan
A concrete path from here to a proved result, with the commercial form for each stage.
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Go / reshape / stop recommendation
An explicit call, which can be a recommendation not to build.
What we need from you
What we need from you
- Access to the people who own and act on the decision
- A sample of live cases, and a view of how the decision is made now
- A realistic picture of the data available, even if it is imperfect
- A sponsor able to act on the recommendation
Pricing
from €15,000
Depending on scope, and agreed in writing before we start. If the audit recommends going further and you do, the fee is credited against the next step.
The audit is worth running even when the answer is not to build. Learning that at €15,000 is cheaper than learning it after six months of engineering, and we have watched companies do both.
FAQ
Questions about the audit
What is a Decision Opportunity Audit?
Two to three weeks of work by a partner, at a fixed fee, whose product is a number and a recommendation. The number is what a better method for one of your repeated decisions would be worth on your own figures. The recommendation is one of three words: go, reshape, or stop.
How long does it take and what does it cost?
Two to three weeks, from €15,000 depending on scope, agreed in writing before we start. If the audit recommends going further and you do, the fee is credited against the next step, so you do not pay twice for knowing.
What do we receive?
Concrete artefacts: a decision map, an economic baseline, a stakeholder and workflow map, a data and integration assessment, a prior-art review, an uncertainty and risk register, a shortlist of interventions, a proposed Proof-of-Value design, a 90-day execution plan, and an explicit go, reshape or stop recommendation.
Can the Audit conclude that we should not build?
Yes, and it does. Learning that a decision does not justify a system is a result, and at €15,000 it is a far cheaper one than the version you learn after six months of engineering. The audit is designed to be able to say stop, and a partner who has never said it would not be doing the job.
What do you need from us?
Access to the people who own and act on the decision, a sample of live cases and a view of how the decision is made now, a realistic picture of the data available even if it is imperfect, and a sponsor able to act on the recommendation.
Can we see the quality of the thinking before we pay?
Yes. Three findings from an illustrative audit are published in full on a synthetic company, written at the depth a paid one is. The audit itself also includes the stakeholder and workflow map, the data and integration assessment, the prior-art review, the risk register and the ranked shortlist. Judge the thinking on the part we show.
Start with the decision
Bring us the decision
Describe the choice your business keeps making, in your own words. A partner will reply with whether it fits an audit. If it does, the audit ends with go, reshape or stop, and the fee is the same whichever it is.
Who runs it
A partner runs the audit and presents it. The same person stays with the work if you go further, and is who you call when something is wrong. The fee is fixed and agreed before it starts. Everything we see is confidential and unattributed by default: no company appears in a deck, a case study or on this website without written permission. References are owners who have had an audit tell them not to build.
