Validation and priorities.
Ranking the opportunities with you, and agreeing what to do first and what proves it worked.
This is where the consultation stops being analysis and becomes a commitment. Opportunities are ranked in the open, the owner argues and reorders, and the result is an agreement: what goes first, who owns it, what it costs in hours, and what result would prove it — or kill it.
What this area covers
- Ranking every opportunity on value, feasibility, cost, risk, and time to benefit
- The owner's reorder: disagreement welcomed, reasons recorded
- The sequence: one rollout at a time, never double-booked
- The 30-day plan: owners, weekly hours, first actions
- Baselines, targets, and kill criteria for every move
- The draft review: you correct the report before anything is final
Why it matters
Because priorities nobody believes in do not get done, and plans without measures do not get judged. Validation is what turns a consultant's list into the owner's plan — and the kill criteria are what keep it honest afterward, when enthusiasm fades and the tool has to earn its keep.
How it relates to the five steps
Steps 4 and 5 made concrete: the ranking argued in step 4, then the sequence, plan, and measures delivered in step 5. It is also where the consultation hands the business back to its owner — with a plan the owner has already shaped, corrected, and approved.