R. Reality
Understand what actually exists.
The Reality stage builds shared understanding of the current state, the processes, people, systems, dependencies, and constraints, before any decisions are made about what should change. You must understand reality before you can improve it.
The Question This Stage Answers
What is actually true about the environment this work operates in?
The Output: The Context Map
The Context Map must answer:
- Where does this work sit in the organization?
- Who is involved, what are their roles, and how are they impacted?
- How do things actually work today?
- What are the problems, opportunities, and constraints stakeholders see?
- What assumptions remain unvalidated?
The Context Map is assembled from multiple sources: stakeholder conversations, existing documentation, enterprise models, system data, process observations. Existing documentation must be validated against current reality, not assumed to be accurate.
Reality is about finding, not interpreting. It collects, validates, and connects. Interpretation belongs to Analyze.
The goal is not a complete map of reality. It is sufficient understanding to enable meaningful analysis.
What Success Looks Like
Multiple stakeholders describe the current state the same way. Not roughly the same, actually the same. Where they disagree, the disagreement is surfaced, not hidden. The work is clearly positioned within the organizational landscape.
Commitment Checklist
Do not proceed until:
- The work is positioned within the organization, with affected areas identified
- Stakeholders are mapped with their roles and impact
- The current state is understood from evidence, not assumption
- Existing documentation has been validated, not just accepted
- Understanding is sufficient for meaningful analysis
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Context Map? The Context Map is the output of the Reality stage. It documents the current state: who is involved, how things work, and what constraints and assumptions exist.
How much detail is enough? Sufficient understanding to enable meaningful analysis. The goal is not completeness. It is clarity about what matters for the decision ahead.
Why validate existing documentation? Documentation describes how things were meant to work, not necessarily how they work now. Reality validates what is actually true.