Workflow Intelligence · Method
Once you've found the gap, you still have five ways to close it.
Mapping a broken workflow tells you where the problem is. It doesn't tell you what to do about it. There are five possible fixes for any workflow gap, and the most exciting one, automation, is only the right answer some of the time.
Direct answer
The five fixes, and when each one is right
| Fix | The gap looks like |
|---|---|
| Eliminate | The reason the task existed no longer applies. The best fix, when it's available. |
| Buy (off-the-shelf) | An affordable tool already does this end to end. Buy it rather than build it. |
| AI-assisted | A person drafts, summarizes, or decides from scratch every time, and needs a head start, not a replacement. |
| Automate | The steps are right, but data is re-typed between tools that should talk to each other. |
| Redesign | More steps than the outcome needs, or the same work done twice in different places. |
Why order matters
Check eliminate before you build anything
The list above isn't ranked by sophistication. It's roughly ranked by how often it gets skipped. Owners tend to jump straight to automate because it's the most visible fix, and skip the possibility that a step could simply stop happening, or that a $20-a-month tool already solves it. The least exciting answer is often the right one, and it's usually the cheapest.
Where it fits
Step five of Theory of Operation, applied honestly
This is the "determine" step of the Theory of Operation method: once a gap is identified, this is the decision that follows. Every workflow we look at gets checked against all five before we recommend building anything.
Questions
FAQ
Can a workflow need more than one fix?
Yes. A process often gets redesigned first, then automated once the simplified version is stable.
What if we're already committed to automating something?
Worth double-checking against these five before building. It costs nothing to check, and automating the wrong process is expensive to undo.
Who decides which fix applies?
We recommend one based on the diagnosis, but the decision, and the cost tradeoffs behind it, is always explained plainly and left to you.
Next step
Let's check a workflow against all five fixes
A short call to walk through a process you're considering changing, and find out honestly which fix it actually needs.