doctrine-assessment

# Doctrine Assessment Skill

Assess organizational doctrine using Simon Wardley's universally useful patterns for organizational effectiveness.

## When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

- **Doctrine Assessment tasks** - Working on assess organizational doctrine and universally useful patterns
- **Planning or design** - Need guidance on Doctrine Assessment approaches
- **Best practices** - Want to follow established patterns and standards

## MANDATORY: Documentation-First Approach

Before assessing doctrine:

1. **Invoke `docs-management` skill** for doctrine patterns
2. **Verify Wardley doctrine phases** via MCP servers (perplexity)
3. **Base guidance on Wardley's doctrine catalog**

## What is Doctrine?

```text
Doctrine = Universally Useful Patterns

These are principles that:
- Apply regardless of context
- Are valuable in any organization
- Don't depend on landscape position
- Support strategic effectiveness

Doctrine ≠ Strategy
- Strategy: Context-dependent positioning
- Doctrine: Universal best practices
```

## Doctrine Categories

### Phase I: Stop Self-Inflicted Harm

```text
FOUNDATIONAL DOCTRINE:

1. KNOW YOUR USERS
   - Understand who you're serving
   - Research actual needs (not assumed)
   - Regular user engagement
   Assessment: Who are your users? When did you last talk to them?

2. USE A COMMON LANGUAGE
   - Shared vocabulary across organization
   - Maps as communication tool
   - Avoid departmental jargon
   Assessment: Can everyone understand strategic discussions?

3. CHALLENGE ASSUMPTIONS
   - Question "obvious" truths
   - Test beliefs with evidence
   - Avoid sacred cows
   Assessment: When did you last challenge a core assumption?

4. FOCUS ON USER NEEDS
   - Start with user need, not solution
   - Needs before wants
   - Outcomes over outputs
   Assessment: Do you start projects with user need or technology?

5. BE TRANSPARENT
   - Share information openly
   - Visible decision-making
   - Accessible reasoning
   Assessment: Can a