Laura Sullivan Consulting

How I Work

Discovery that investigates, not just documents.

Beyond the process map. Into the operating reality.

Six steps

Discover → Connect → Diagnose → Design → Align → Enable

  1. 01

    Discover

    I find the people doing the work and observe it. I ask what happens when the procedure doesn't fit, because that is where the real process lives.

    What leaders get: An honest view of what is happening on the ground.

  2. 02

    Connect

    I follow the work end to end: where information originates, where it goes, and what happens between teams and systems.

    What leaders get: The connections no single team can see.

  3. 03

    Diagnose

    I reconcile competing explanations and identify underlying causes: technology, ownership, requirements, controls, incentives, or adoption.

    What leaders get: A clear statement of the problem, separated from its symptoms.

  4. 04

    Design

    I translate complexity into options for ownership, process, and technology, with the trade-offs stated plainly.

    What leaders get: Options to decide between, not a single answer to accept.

  5. 05

    Align

    I bring executives and teams to a shared picture of the problem and a shared decision about what comes first.

    What leaders get: Agreement on the path, and on who owns each part.

  6. 06

    Enable

    I bring in the people with the expertise, authority, and operational responsibility to make the change sustainable, and support adoption.

    What leaders get: A change that outlasts my involvement.

The difference

A written procedure tells you what should happen. I find out what does.

Documenting a procedure

  • Starts from the existing process document
  • Asks managers how work is supposed to flow
  • Maps each team's steps on its own
  • Produces a cleaner version of what already exists

Investigating the operating reality

  • Starts from the people doing the work, at every level
  • Watches what happens when the procedure doesn't fit
  • Follows work, data, and decisions across team and system boundaries
  • Produces a diagnosis of why the gaps exist and who should own closing them

Example: watching one billing process, I noticed data being entered that hadn't appeared on screen, asked where it came from, and found another spreadsheet.

Something isn't working, and you can't quite see where.

You don't need the diagnosis, only the symptom.

Book a discovery conversation

A candid conversation about what you're seeing. If I'm not the right fit, I'll say so.