FACT's measured placement
PROOF gives an early read on which of four patterns the route follows: fragmented, stalled, scaling or compounding. FACT measures it on the real handoffs.
The Friction Model
the system stalls. we measure where.
This is what FACT (Friction Assessment Context Telemetry) measures in real handoffs. The FACT report runs all 9 equations on them. Six supporting models explain the result. One rule keeps it honest.
Direct calculation
nine numbers fromthe real handoffs
The FACT report runs all 9 equations on the real handoffs. Each one's counted from evidence FACT collects. Each line says what it reveals. See a sample FACT report
How FACT works. 2 weeks on site, inside the real handoffs, ending with the FACT report. FACT gets the same access a project manager would. One point person on the team answers questions. Every nondisclosure and confidentiality agreement is signed before day one.
which team carries the stalled work
Reveals the departments where work waits longest, and the aggregate across the route.
how often work arrives incomplete
Reveals the share of handoffs that force someone to stop and go find what was left out.
time spent fixing handoffs
Observed hours come from timed repairs. The estimate scales them by handoff volume and rate per handoff type.
how much the week asks for versus what it has
- < 0.85 margin
- 0.85 to 1.00 constrained
- 1.00 to 1.15 overloaded
- ≥ 1.15 deficit
Reveals whether the team has spare hours, or whether repair work is eating the margin that keeps delivery on time.
hours the week is short
Reveals the hours that never fit, so work rolls into next week.
whether the queue grows
Arrivals and rework add to the queue; completions and cancellations drain it. Reveals the direction the backlog is moving.
what the repair time is worth
Prices the hours. Duplicates are subtracted so no hour is counted twice.
Example only: 8 repair hours a week × $43.27 = $346.15 a week. Over 52 weeks that's $18,000 a year, or 20% of one $90,000 salary. The real figure comes from the team's own hours.
Why the work stalls
near full,waiting explodes
A team that looks fully used isn't efficient. As utilization approaches 1, wait time grows without limit. That's queueing math, not a habit problem.
ρ = 0.50
Wait relative to work time: 1.0×
Same team, same skill. Only the load changed.
Supporting models
the theorybehind stalled work
These explain why the measured numbers behave the way they do. They're never used to inflate a cost.
how busy the team is
Arrival rate over service rate. Above 0.85, small surprises turn into long queues.
the simplest queue
Shows wait, time in system and queue length all climbing as arrivals near capacity.
variability makes it worse
Uneven arrivals and uneven task sizes multiply the wait. Incomplete handoffs add both.
work in progress equals time
More open items at the same rate means each one takes longer to finish.
the slowest step sets the pace
Speeding up any other step doesn't raise output.
who hands work to whom
People and teams are nodes, handoffs are edges. More edges means more places for context to go missing.
Honesty
theorem, model,accounting
theorem
Queueing results explain why a full team stalls. They hold in general.
model
Utilization, variability and bottlenecks describe the route. They point to where to look.
accounting
Hours come from observed handoffs. Salary converts them. Nothing else touches the figure.
The theories explain why work stalls. They never multiply the price. Evidence produces the hours and salary converts them.
The path
start with PROOF,fix what stalls first
- tbtxPROOFProcess · Response · Output · Operating capacity · Friction15 answers show where work stalls, plus 3 of the 9 measurements: where the hours go and what they cost. No email.
- tbtxContext Keystonesbuilt from the PROOF answersA pack built from the team's 15 PROOF answers plus a short intake, so the tools the team already runs keep the context and nobody fills the gap by hand.
- tbtxRemote FACTFriction Assessment Context Telemetry, by videoA video review of the PROOF result and where context gets lost. Payment, then booking the call.
- tbtxFACTFriction Assessment Context Telemetry, on site2 weeks inside the real handoffs. Ends with the FACT report: all 9 equations run on the real work, and what to change first.
Price. PROOF: 15 answers · no email. BACK (Context Keystones): $74 intro for the first 50, then $347. Remote FACT: $1,750. FACT: $4,500 plus travel.