Play · Diagnose

Read Evidence and Unknowns

Separate observed evidence, insufficient evidence, and recommendations, and explain why a diagnosis carries no score.

Situation

A diagnosis exists and someone is tempted to summarize it as a grade ("our marketing is a 6/10") or to treat Unknown areas as failures.

Outcome

You can separate observed evidence, insufficient evidence, and recommendation, and you can explain why there is no score.

Steps

  1. 1Open the Diagnostic and pick three capability areas: one Observed, one Unknown, one you're unsure about.
  2. 2For the Observed one: write down the evidence and the confidence (high / medium / low). Then note the run's evidence basis, which applies to the whole report: a direct-scan-only run supports narrower claims than a grounded read. Say so.
  3. 3For the Unknown one: write down what "Unknown" means here ("could not verify enough") and name the next verification (connect an integration, add a source, correct a profile).
  4. 4Practice the sentence: "Unknown is not zero. Missing evidence is not proof of poor performance. Scraper coverage is not a business grade."
  5. 5Check that every claim has a citation. Model-derived claims without source IDs don't enter customer views. If you see unbound prose, treat it as a draft, not evidence.
  6. 6Decide: is a reassessment warranted? Reassessment reports what changed (new, unavailable, or unchanged evidence), never score deltas.

Put it to work

Know what to do next.Know whether it worked.

Signal & Science keeps the evidence, the plan, and the results in one place, so each lesson here becomes a working habit in your own workspace.