# Teardown Diagnostic Sequence

> A fixed order for diagnosing a business: sort first, then the KPI chain, then hunt outliers, then determine whether the issue is a model problem or a team and execution problem.

- Canonical URL: https://www.convios.com/en/methods/teardown-sequence
- Language version: https://www.convios.com/de/methodik/teardown-reihenfolge
- Status: Convios method toolkit
- Method library: https://www.convios.com/en/methods — Markdown: https://www.convios.com/en/methods.md

## Problem

When analyzing a company, the discussion jumps between strategy, people and tactics, and in the end the most plausible-sounding measure gets implemented. Leadership often believes it needs a new strategy when execution is the constraint. Without a fixed diagnostic order, recommendations become arbitrary.

## Approach

1. Ask the sorting question first: did the business grow organically or through acquisition? That determines the problem class.
2. Walk the KPI chain: leads, booking rate, show rate, close rate, revenue per deal.
3. Have leadership name their suspected constraints, then test them against the data.
4. Hunt outliers: which channel, segment or location clearly outperforms the rest? That is where more resources go first.
5. Finish with the honest distinction: model problem or team and execution problem; limit recommendations to low execution risk.

## Example

A typical case: the leadership of a mid-sized company is convinced its business model is exhausted and plans a strategic overhaul. Diagnosis along the chain shows a different picture: demand exists, but a large share is lost between inquiry and attended meeting, and a single channel delivers a multiple of the rest. The recommendation is unspectacular: fix lead handling, feed the proven channel harder, postpone the overhaul. The pattern of "execution before strategy" is this sequence's most common finding.

## Limits

The sequence comes from teardowns of service and SMB businesses; for complex B2B motions the KPI chain must be translated accordingly. It diagnoses operational constraints, not market or positioning questions. Amplifying outliers alone can create structural dependence on a single channel.

## Metric

Conversion rates along the chain and the variance between channels, segments or locations as the outlier indicator.

## Sources

- Why Strategy Execution Unravels—and What to Do About It — Harvard Business Review (Sull, Homkes, Sull), 2015 · academic and scholarly literature · supports the underlying mechanism. Draws on a multi-year study of more than 250 companies to show that executives systematically misattribute the causes of failed execution (alignment rather than coordination and adaptability), which supports the case for examining execution causes honestly. The source itself does not investigate the distinction between a business model problem and an execution problem. (https://hbr.org/2015/03/why-strategy-execution-unravelsand-what-to-do-about-it)
- Building a $5,000,000 Business for a Stranger in 42 Mins — Alex Hormozi (YouTube), 2025 · practitioner source · describes the method. Origin of the specific sequence: Hormozi works through someone else's business live in exactly this order, from sorting through the metric chain to the outlier. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBJppqCeFGI)
- Primary source: Why Strategy Execution Unravels—and What to Do About It (https://hbr.org/2015/03/why-strategy-execution-unravelsand-what-to-do-about-it)
- Adapted from: Alex Hormozi ($100M Offers/$100M Leads, YouTube-Langform)

## Related

- Method: [Constraint Detection (Five-Layer Scan)](https://www.convios.com/en/methods/constraint-detection)
- Method: [Funnel Math Instead of Close Rate](https://www.convios.com/en/methods/funnel-math)
- Method: [Maturity Gate](https://www.convios.com/en/methods/maturity-gate)