Symptom-Based Improvement Advice: A New Relevant-Focused Problem-Based Framework

Classic maturity models require one or more trained assessors interacting with interviewees from the organization. This is a very rigorous and therefore costly process. In this paper we have developed the opposite; a relevant-focused and problem-based approach that can be used to generate improvement advice. We start out from the observation that trained assessors often observe symptoms when they enter an organization and find that there is an intuitive correlation with the given recommendations. We then developed a framework of symptoms and underlying problems using a technique called cognitive mapping. This framework was then used in a large organization to derive recommendations based on symptoms. This proof-of-concept seemed to work quite well. We present our framework and discuss how it can be implemented as an online tool. Further we identify several ways our approach can be further researched.