Quick Reference Card

"Print this. Keep it on your desk. Use it when problems hit."

This is your field guide to the 6D Foraging Methodology — designed for quick reference during incident response, cost analysis, or strategic planning.

Dimension Checklist

Use this checklist to ensure you're analyzing all six dimensions:

☑	Dimension	Core Question	Key Metric	Alert Threshold
□	D1: Customer	How does this affect who pays us?	NPS, Churn Rate	NPS drop >5 pts
□	D2: Employee	How does this affect who works for us?	Turnover, Engagement	Turnover >15%
□	D3: Revenue	How does this affect money coming in?	AR Aging, Margin	AR >60 days >10%
□	D4: Regulatory	How does this affect our compliance?	Audit Findings, Fines	Any critical finding
□	D5: Quality	How does this affect what we deliver?	Defect Rate, Rework	Defect rate +20%
□	D6: Operational	How does this affect how we work?	Uptime, Cycle Time	Uptime <99.9%

Usage: For any problem, check each box and document observable signals. If 3+ dimensions are affected, expect significant cascade.

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3D Quick Reference (Sound × Space × Time)

Apply this scoring lens to each affected dimension:

Lens	Question	Low (1-3)	Medium (4-6)	High (7-10)
Sound (Urgency)	How urgent is this?	Future risk Minor issue No immediate action	Current issue Affecting operations Needs attention	Crisis Business-critical Immediate response
Space (Scope)	How widespread?	Isolated One person/customer Single system	Department Customer segment Multiple systems	Enterprise-wide All customers Market-wide
Time (Trajectory)	Getting better or worse?	One-time event Isolated incident First occurrence	Recurring pattern Happening monthly Sustained pressure	Accelerating trend Worsening quickly Chronic condition

Formula: Dimension Score = (Sound × Space × Time) ÷ 10

Interpretation:

• Score < 10: Low priority. Monitor.
• Score 10-20: Medium priority. Plan action.
• Score 20-30: High priority. Act within 48 hours.
• Score > 30: Critical. Immediate escalation.

Example:

Problem: Customer complaint from enterprise account
Sound = 6 (direct complaint, not yet escalated)
Space = 5 (one customer, but enterprise tier)
Time = 4 (second occurrence this month)

Score = (6 × 5 × 4) ÷ 10 = 12 (Medium priority)

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Multiplier Quick Estimate

Use this table to estimate cascade multiplier without detailed analysis:

Dimensions Affected	Cascade Depth	Estimated Multiplier	Use When
1-2 dimensions	1 level	1.5-2×	Simple, contained issues
2-3 dimensions	2 levels	2-4×	Common operational problems
3-4 dimensions	2-3 levels	4-6×	Significant incidents
4-5 dimensions	3+ levels	6-10×	Major failures, strategic issues
5-6 dimensions	3+ levels	10×+	Enterprise-wide crises

Quick calculation:

Direct Cost: $__________
Multiplier: ____×
───────────────────────
Estimated Total Impact: $__________

Example:

Direct Cost: $50,000 (billing error labor)
Dimensions Affected: 4 (Operational, Quality, Employee, Customer)
Cascade Depth: 2 levels
Multiplier: 5×
───────────────────────
Estimated Total Impact: $250,000

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Cascade Pathway Quick Map

Most common cascade patterns (use as starting point):

CUSTOMER → Revenue (70%)
         → Employee (50%)
         → Regulatory (20%)

EMPLOYEE → Quality (80%)
         → Operational (70%)
         → Revenue (40%)

REVENUE  → Operational (85%)
         → Employee (60%)
         → Quality (40%)

REGULATORY → Revenue (90%)
           → Customer (70%)
           → Operational (60%)

QUALITY → Customer (85%)
        → Operational (75%)
        → Regulatory (30%)

OPERATIONAL → Quality (80%)
            → Employee (75%)
            → Revenue (60%)

Usage: Start with the origin dimension, follow the highest probability cascade paths.

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Trigger Keyword Urgency Guide

Quick reference for keyword severity scoring:

High Urgency (Sound = 8-10)

"unacceptable"      "breach"           "lawsuit"
"canceling"         "violation"        "investigation"
"recall"            "system down"      "data breach"
"injury"            "fraud"            "immediate jeopardy"
"P1/Sev1"           "outage"           "critical"

Action: Executive escalation within 1 hour.

Medium Urgency (Sound = 4-7)

"disappointed"      "concerned"        "audit finding"
"rework"            "defect"           "delayed"
"bottleneck"        "frustrated"       "non-compliance"
"bug"               "downtime"         "overtime"

Action: Manager review within 24 hours.

Low Urgency (Sound = 1-3)

"just wondering"    "for future"       "nice to have"
"minor issue"       "cosmetic"         "inefficient"
"tech debt"         "someday"          "could be better"

Action: Track pattern over time.

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Incident Response Decision Tree

Problem Detected
      │
      ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│ How many        │
│ dimensions      │   1-2  → Use standard incident response
│ affected?       │
└────────┬────────┘   3+   → Continue below
         │
         ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│ 3D Score of     │
│ highest         │   <20  → Plan response (48 hours)
│ dimension?      │
└────────┬────────┘   20-30 → Act immediately (4 hours)
         │
         │             >30  → Executive escalation (1 hour)
         ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│ Cascade depth?  │   1 level   → Monitor closely
│                 │   2 levels  → Preventive action
└────────┬────────┘   3+ levels → Crisis response
         │
         ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│ Calculate       │
│ multiplier      │
│ using table     │
│ above           │
└─────────────────┘

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5-Minute Analysis Template

Use this for rapid assessment:

PROBLEM: _______________________________________

ORIGIN DIMENSION: □ Customer  □ Employee  □ Revenue
                  □ Regulatory □ Quality  □ Operational

3D SCORE:
  Sound (1-10): ___  [Urgency]
  Space (1-10): ___  [Scope]
  Time (1-10):  ___  [Trajectory]
  TOTAL: ___

AFFECTED DIMENSIONS (check all):
  □ D1: Customer     Evidence: _______________
  □ D2: Employee     Evidence: _______________
  □ D3: Revenue      Evidence: _______________
  □ D4: Regulatory   Evidence: _______________
  □ D5: Quality      Evidence: _______________
  □ D6: Operational  Evidence: _______________

QUICK MULTIPLIER ESTIMATE:
  Dimensions affected: ___
  Cascade depth: ___ levels
  Estimated multiplier: ___×

IMPACT ESTIMATE:
  Direct cost: $___________
  × Multiplier: ___×
  ═══════════════════════
  Total impact: $___________

RECOMMENDED ACTION:
  □ Monitor (Score <20)
  □ Plan response (Score 20-30)
  □ Immediate action (Score >30)
  □ Executive escalation (Score >40 OR Regulatory involved)

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Industry-Specific Quick Adjustments

Healthcare

• Customer → Patient Outcomes (HCAHPS, readmissions)
• Regulatory multiplier: 10-15× (CMS penalties are severe)
• Highest risk cascade: Quality → Regulatory

Financial Services

• Customer → Client Trust (AUM flows)
• Customer multiplier: 8-12× (concentration risk)
• Highest risk cascade: Quality → Customer

Manufacturing

• Operational → Production Efficiency (OEE)
• Operational multiplier: 6-10× (fixed cost absorption)
• Highest risk cascade: Operational → Revenue

SaaS

• Customer → User Experience (NPS, adoption)
• Operational multiplier: 8-15× (uptime = entire customer base)
• Highest risk cascade: Operational → Customer

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Common Analysis Mistakes (Avoid These)

❌ Don't	✅ Do
Stop at direct cost	Map at least 2 cascade levels
Analyze only origin dimension	Check all 6 dimensions
Ignore low-probability cascades	Track cascades >20% probability
Use same multiplier for all	Use dimension-specific multipliers
Focus only on current state	Include trajectory (Time lens)
Wait for full analysis to act	Use 5-minute template for rapid response

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Printable Version

6D IMPACT QUICK CARD

DIMENSIONS: Customer | Employee | Revenue | Regulatory | Quality | Operational

3D LENS: Sound (Urgency) × Space (Scope) × Time (Trajectory) ÷ 10

MULTIPLIERS:

• 1-2 dims, 1 level: 1.5-2×
• 2-3 dims, 2 levels: 2-4×
• 3-4 dims, 2-3 levels: 4-6×
• 4-5 dims, 3+ levels: 6-10×
• 5-6 dims, 3+ levels: 10×+

URGENCY:

• High (8-10): "lawsuit", "breach", "system down", "P1"
• Medium (4-7): "defect", "delayed", "concerned", "audit"
• Low (1-3): "minor", "someday", "inefficient", "tech debt"

CASCADES (Most Common):

• Customer → Revenue (70%)
• Employee → Quality (80%)
• Operational → Quality (80%)
• Quality → Customer (85%)
• Regulatory → Revenue (90%)

ACTION THRESHOLDS:

• Score <20: Monitor
• Score 20-30: Act within 48h
• Score >30: Immediate escalation
• 3+ dimensions: Cascade analysis required

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Digital Quick Tools

Bookmarklet (Add to Browser)

javascript:(function(){
  var d=prompt("Direct cost ($)?");
  var n=prompt("Dimensions affected (1-6)?");
  var m=(n<3)?2:(n<5)?5:10;
  alert("Estimated Impact: $"+(d*m).toLocaleString()+"\nMultiplier: "+m+"x");
})();

Instructions: Drag to bookmarks bar, click when analyzing incidents.

Spreadsheet Template

Download: 6D Impact Calculator.xlsx (Coming Soon)

Features:

• Automated 3D scoring
• Cascade pathway wizard
• Multiplier calculation
• Impact summary dashboard

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Next Steps

📊 Full Scoring Methodology — Detailed scoring process

🔍 Observable Properties — Complete signal catalog

📖 Cascade Analysis Guide — Step-by-step cascade mapping

📚 Case Studies — Real examples with numbers

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Remember: Speed matters in incident response. This card gets you 80% of the analysis in 5 minutes. 🪶