Look at the machine from the higher level.

A metaphor for examining the larger process that produces repeated outcomes, including goals, handoffs, resources, decisions, and feedback. It complements close participation in the work rather than requiring an uninterrupted view from above.

A wider process view asks how repeated outcomes are produced. Instead of inspecting only the latest task, examine the sequence of requests, decisions, handoffs, tools, and feedback. A pattern across several occasions may suggest a process change that an isolated view of each event would miss.

The wider view needs evidence from the people doing the work. A neat diagram can omit an informal workaround, a shifting requirement, or a constraint that only appears in practice. Alternate between the overall process and particular cases. Redesign is one possible response; direct action, better information, changed capacity, or a revised goal may be more appropriate.

When to use it

When similar outcomes recur across tasks and the arrangement around the work may explain part of the pattern.

How it can help

Helps investigate patterns that repeated attention to individual incidents may leave unchanged.