From reading to doing / Free workbook
Templates and Tools
Appendix D of The Fastest Way collects the templates that were too detailed for the main text but useful enough to stand alone. This is that appendix as a printable workbook: every table has room to write in, so you can print the pages you need and fill them in while you work.
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The templates work on their own; nothing here is held back. If you would also like to see the method at work, leave your address and you will get three short notes over three weeks: one on defining a problem properly, one on reading the Map, one on picking a process. Then a monthly note, and nothing else.
Ook in het Nederlands: Sjablonen en hulpmiddelen.
If you start with one tool, start with the Problem-Solving Journal. It gives the rest of the toolkit a record to build on.
What is inside
Twenty-eight templates, ordered the way the book is: first the four Rules, then the four quadrants of the Map, then the four Processes, then the tools for keeping the practice going.
The Rules
- Make Explicit (Ch. 3) - Structured Writing Protocol, Journaling Template, Data Tracking Protocol, Intuition Log
- Decompose (Ch. 4) - Integration Contract Template
- Create Focus (Ch. 5) - Priority Matrix, Dependency Matrix for problem sequencing
- Evaluate (Ch. 6) - Assumptions Log
The Map
- Q1 Problem Definition (Ch. 8) - Problem Definition Contract
- Q2 Problem Analysis (Ch. 9) - Root Cause Analysis quick reference
- Q3 Solution Design (Ch. 10) - Solution Evaluation Scorecard, solution design tools
- Q4 Solution Implementation (Ch. 11) - Implementation Planning Checklist
The Processes
- Choosing a process (Ch. 12) - Process Selection Decision Guide and Matrix
- Primary (Ch. 13) - Execution Template, Problem-Solving Journal
- First Time Right (Ch. 14) - Gate Evaluation Checklist, Reviewer Authority Matrix, Escalation Decision Rule
- Iterative (Ch. 15) - Iteration review templates
- Exploratory (Ch. 16) - Experiment Documentation Template
Into practice
- Bringing it together (Ch. 18) - Prevention Log, Common Pitfalls Diagnostic Checklist
- Next steps (Ch. 19) - Know Your Style self-assessment, Personal Playbook, The Fastest Way on One Page
- Continuous practice - Question Library
How to use them
Print single-sided if you plan to write a lot; the fill-in tables assume a pen, not a keyboard. Most templates work on their own, but they are written to be read alongside the chapter they belong to. The chapter number after each title tells you where to look.
These pages are the practical companion to the book, not a replacement for it. The templates tell you what to record; the book tells you why that record changes the outcome.
Want the reasoning behind the templates?