Heifetz DIAGNOSING THE SYSTEM. KEY DIAGNOSTIC PRACTICES: (1) GETTING ON THE BALCONY - the metaphor of stepping back from the dance floor of action to observe the system from a higher vantage point; alternates with going back to dance + acting on what you observe; balcony perspective reveals patterns + interactions + politics + culture that escape attention in moment-to-moment action; (2) STAKEHOLDER MAPPING - identifying all parties affected by + relevant to the adaptive challenge + their interests + values + commitments + potential losses + power + influence; (3) FORMAL AUTHORITY STRUCTURE MAPPING - org chart + reporting relationships + decision rights + escalation paths + governance bodies + boards + committees; (4) INFORMAL AUTHORITY NETWORK MAPPING - trust-based influence + relationships + coalitions + opinion leaders + connectors + organizational politics + culture + unspoken rules; (5) VALUES + COMMITMENTS - what each stakeholder believes is important + non-negotiable + guiding their behavior; (6) LOSSES AT RISK - what each stakeholder fears losing in adaptive change + how attached they are to current state; this is the CENTRAL DIAGNOSTIC INSIGHT for adaptive leaders - people resist adaptive change not because of irrationality but because they fear loss; (7) WORK AVOIDANCE MECHANISMS - denial + scapegoating + jurisdictional disputes + diverting attention + technical solutions for adaptive problems + blaming + ostracizing dissenters; (8) ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM + UNDISCUSSABLES - issues everyone knows but no one names + collective avoidance + dysfunction patterns; (9) DIAGNOSING THE GAP between espoused values + lived behavior + organizational shadow + culture. DIAGNOSTIC OUTPUTS: stakeholder map + power map + losses map + work avoidance patterns + system characterization + leverage points for adaptive intervention.
The graph holds this control, the 0 it maps to, and the evidence behind each claim, over MCP and REST.