SERVICES
│ Supplementary course
Create a state where the customer can choose: line items, good/better/best, alignment
Estimating isn't "the task of producing a number" — it's the task of creating a state where the customer can choose. Break line items into ¥200K–1M units, hand over the right to choose with good/better/best three options, and cycle through aligning and re-estimating as an iterative procedure.
─ ARTICLE COVER
Consulting Skills ／ Supplementary course
§I ─ POSITION
A course that converts the AS-IS / TO-BE / GAP lined up in "Discovery at Project Start" into an estimate the customer can decide on. Hand it off to the next stage, requirements definition, as grounded line items.
§II ─ TAKEAWAYS
Break line items into ¥200K–1M units, to a granularity where a reduction debate is possible
Lay out good/better/best three options as "choices the customer can dial down by budget"
Eliminate expressions that rob the room for debate, like "lump sum" or "infrastructure all-in-one"
Build it assuming alignment after presentation → re-estimating
§III ─ EXCERPT
¶ 01
Hand over only a single total amount and the customer can only say "expensive" or "cheap." An estimate that hasn't handed over material to choose from is not yet an estimate. The goal of this course is to reach a state where you can ask yourself, "can the customer choose with these line items?"
¶ 02
¥200K–1M per line item is standard. Under ¥100K is noise, not worth debating. Conversely, a line item over ¥2M becomes, from the customer's view, a binary of "keep it whole or cut it whole," and a reduction debate becomes impossible. How you break it down itself decides the quality of the estimate.
| Line-item size | State | Customer's move |
|---|---|---|
| ~¥100K | Noise | Not a subject for debate |
| ¥200K–1M | Standard | Can debate keeping or cutting |
| ¥2M~ | Too coarse | Can only judge it whole |
¶ 03
Good/better/best is not a sales technique for getting the seller's "best" chosen. You lay them out to hand over the right to choose, so the customer can dial the price down to match their budget. Whether the starting point of the idea is "the seller's convenience" or "the customer's right to choose" changes the quality of the estimate completely.
¶ 04
"Lump sum," "all-in-one," "XX management features bundled" are convenient for the side issuing them, but the customer can't see the contents. It becomes impossible later to debate "can we cut just this?"
¶ 05
An estimate isn't complete the moment it's issued. It's material for drawing out the customer's priorities (budget-first / feature-first / deadline-first). After presenting, ask "where to cut" and "where to prioritize," and build it assuming re-estimating.
¶ 06
It assumes AS-IS / TO-BE / GAP are lined up in the prior course, "Discovery at Project Start." Enter estimating without GAP lined up and the rationale for the line items disappears. Check that all three are lined up before you start.
§∞ ─ DOWNLOAD
─ EXERCISE
A standard 8-file set (principles / slides / cheat sheet / exercises + answers / a catalog of estimating pitfall patterns / a 90-minute test + answers). Experience building 12 line items and good/better/best three options, plus the pitfalls of nested estimates and infrastructure all-in-one, through exercises.
Lecture slides
Every slide of the course
Cheat sheet
Quick reference for the field
Exercises
With answers and grading
Advanced / test
Hands-on plus rubric
INCLUDED PDFS ─ 8files
§IV ─ RELATED