The document discusses the "Who Cares Test" which is a method for demystifying predispositions about value through mapping exercises. It involves having people map out how meaningful an event or moment is to them based on a hierarchy of choices. Comparing individual maps can reveal how people derive value and meaning in different yet understandable ways. The goal is to allow for differing perspectives to be articulated and potentially reconciled to reach outcomes that make sense to everyone involved.

1. The Who Cares Test
Demystifying Predispositions About Value

2. Archestra notebooks compile and organize decades of in-the-field
empirical findings, to offer explanations of why things happened or
can happen in certain ways or to certain effects. The descriptions
are determined mainly from the perspective of strategy and
architecture, to comment on and navigate between the motives and
potentials that predetermine the decisions and shapes of activity as
discussed in the notes. All notebooks are subject to change.
©2016 Malcolm Ryder / Archestra Research

3. What is Value?
All value occurs as a meaning of a distinction.
The same distinction can be presented to many different parties, but the distinction
may also have different meaning to different parties.
Thus, by definition, a given distinction can have varying value.
An important matter to always resolve, then, is the identification of HOW a
distinction is meaningful.
It is also true that a given single party can recognize multiple values in the same
distinction.
In that case, making decisions requires prioritizing one kind of value over another.

4. What is Value?
The most basic occurrence of “business” value is when something of a certain type
occurs at a certain time, fostering or inhibiting economic reward.
Together, Type and Timing are largely capable of classifying value for business,
since differences in either one (for example wrong type or wrong timing, instead of
correct or appropriate ones) can make or break the opportunity for the business to
reach its immediate practical (circumstantial) goal.
Prioritizing differences is easier when the choices are contrasting.
By looking into what basic contrasts are most typical of how things can be
meaningful, value decisions are easier to make.

5. What is Value?
The following material looks at how an Event and a Moment (what happened and
when) can be meaningfully described in a repeatable, generic way.
A systematic series of identified contrasts exposes how meanings add up to
comparative value.
The approach “analyzes” meaning by providing a series of contrasting choices that
are descriptive of why someone would “care about” the event or moment.
The choices are predominantly psychological (based on what makes something
acceptable, instead of technical (based on specific aspects of a given role, skill,
process, or set of rules).

6. Value is not always predictable, because meaning is variable. This “hierarchy” of meanings is primarily psychological.
It has the advantage of being agnostic: cross-functional, cross-domain, and self-contained – yet can still evolve.
People can recognize value, separately from agreeing with it. They can compare their own assessment to others.
IDENTIFYING MEANING
Is…
How? …
How? …
How? …
versus
versus
versus
versus
This…
©2016MalcolmRyder/ArchestraResearch

7. What ( did or will ) happen
Event Moment
CriticalImportant
Preferred
Relevant
Needed
Enabling Conserving
Convenient
Required
Opportune
Significant
Attractive
Demonstrative
Interesting
ConfirmingEncouraging
Affirming
Valid
Persuasive
Protective
Expressive Supportive
Start at the top; step down (left)to the Event step. From Event, go down another step either left or right (not both).
At that step, go down again either left or right; continue stepping and choosing direction all the way down.
Then do the same from the Moment track (top) all the way down.
IDENTIFYING MEANING
©2016MalcolmRyder/ArchestraResearch

8. What ( did or will ) happen
Event Moment
CriticalImportant
Preferred
Relevant
Needed
Enabling Conserving
Convenient
Required
Opportune
Significant
Attractive
Demonstrative
Interesting
ConfirmingEncouraging
Affirming
Valid
Persuasive
Protective
Expressive Supportive
Each person maps their own assessment by tracing (always top-down) HOW the event and the moment are meaningful
Each step down requires acknowledging the priority of one possible meaning over only one other one.
One person’s map may be very different from another person’s even if having some actual decisions in common.
A TOP-DOWN SERIES OF
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
What it (did or will) mean to me.
©2016MalcolmRyder/ArchestraResearch

9. Since Event and Moment can land on some of the same step(s), You may want to show them in separate maps.
RESPECTING CO-INCIDENCE
For example, it is NOT the case that an
interesting event necessarily makes the
moment interesting, nor vice-versa.
But they can each be interesting in
their own way, independently, and
at the same time.
©2016 Malcolm Ryder / Archestra Research

10. What ( did or will ) happen
Event . .
. .Important
Preferred
Relevant
Needed
. . . .
Convenient
Required
. .
Significant
Attractive
Demonstrative
Interesting
. .Encouraging
Affirming
Valid
Persuasive
. .
. . . .
A “heat map” approach can also be used to show “grading” in assessment (e.g. green is strong, yellow is medium).
In one map, the amount of heat can be prescriptive (authoritative) OR it can represent overall discovered consensus.
In a given map, “heat” can represent pre-existing desire OR it can represent observed impact.
Comparing the discovery to a prescription is potentially a highly revealing exercise.
RELATIVE VALUE
©2016MalcolmRyder/ArchestraResearch

11. Passing the Test
In the Who Cares Test (doing the mappings and comparing the maps), the purpose is to
work on terms of acceptance and agreement.
The most important effect of the value mapping is to reveal HOW people care about what
happens.
The mapping does that in a way that allows different people to articulate their assessment
of things, to themselves and to others, without others first needing to overcome formally
specialized and differing points of view.
The general de-mystification of predispositions allows them to evolve sooner, faster, and
more confidently if they need to change.
In recognizing how meaning is being “held”, opportunity exists to do reconciliations,
negotiations, accommodations and compensations.
Even though the final outcomes may not be identical for everyone nor necessarily equally
desirable, they make sense to everyone in the same way.

12. ©2016 Malcolm Ryder / Archestra Research
www.archestra.com
mryder@archestra.com