The Method

The model behind every diagnostic.

Every Quicksilver diagnostic tests a real decision against the same thing: a connected model of how your organization actually operates — the Organizational Coherence Model.

What It Is

A multi-graph of your organization

We map the entities and concepts your organization runs on — capabilities, business activities, teams, systems, data, vendors, and agreements — into a connected graph.

Instead of treating each of these as a separate workstream, the model shows how they depend on one another, so a proposed decision can be tested against how the organization actually works, not how it is described to work on a slide.

Diagram of the Organizational Coherence Model: a central decision node connected to capabilities, systems, data, teams, vendors, activities, and agreements.
Why a Graph, Not a Report

We examine the organization for internal coherence.

A conventional review produces a set of findings. The Organizational Coherence Model produces a structure.

It shows where capabilities are well supported, where they quietly depend on people, systems, or agreements that were never built to carry them, and where the organization’s stated direction and its actual operating reality don’t agree.

  • Internal coherence between what’s planned and what exists
  • Hidden dependencies that cross team and system boundaries
  • Capability gaps that would otherwise only surface after commitment
How We Build It

A common method behind every diagnostic.

  1. Define

    The consequential decision, proposed change, or critical question.

  2. Identify outcomes

    The intended outcomes and the organizational capabilities required to reach them.

  3. Map

    The business activities, teams, systems, processes, data products, storage, vendors, agreements, and external parties involved.

  4. Gather evidence

    About the current state, directly from the organization — not just from plans and interviews.

  5. Identify gaps

    Dependencies, constraints, missing capabilities, governance gaps, and areas of uncertainty.

  6. Test

    The proposed direction against organizational reality.

  7. Develop findings

    Decision options, a recommendation, and a practical roadmap.

  8. Leave the model behind

    Retained as a living organizational asset you keep building on.

Illustration of a coherent cluster of nodes emerging from a wider field of organizational data points.
A Living Model

It doesn’t end when the engagement does.

Most diagnostic work is set aside the moment the report is delivered. The Organizational Coherence Model isn’t.

It’s handed back to you as a living asset — one you can extend with the next decision, the next system change, the next transaction. Each new diagnostic adds to the same connected picture instead of starting again from zero.

See the Diagnostics

Want to see the model applied to your organization?

Every diagnostic starts with one bounded question. Let's define yours.