situate

Steps

1. What crosses its edge?

Name what feeds it, what takes what it produces, and what it serves. Name the smallest system that holds all three; that system contains it.

2. What does the container ask of it that it cannot see from inside?

Name each limit, rhythm, expectation, and competitor for the same resources that the container imposes.

3. Does the next level up change anything?

Answer the first two questions again for the container. Stop at the first level where the thing's purpose is plain, or where the next level would change nothing about the thing.

4. What changes about the thing once it is seen in place?

State what shifts: its purpose, its priorities, or what counts as success for it.

Output