Charting · Autumn Memo

Charting Skills for Business Leaders

> Audience: Business Executives · Project Managers · Entrepreneurs > Purpose: Master the 16 most impactful charts to communicate strategy, track performance, and drive decisions.

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Why Charts Matter in Business

Charts are the language of leadership. A well-chosen chart can:

Compress weeks of analysis into a 10-second insight
Build stakeholder alignment without lengthy explanations
Surface patterns invisible in raw data tables
Make complex decisions auditable and defensible

The charts below are ranked by strategic breadth — how many business scenarios each type serves across planning, execution, and communication.

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Default Plotting Contract

When asked to plot, generate, or design a chart, create a slide-ready diagram by default:

Canvas: use a 16:9 draw.io page, preferably 1600x900 (pageWidth="1600" and pageHeight="900"). Keep content inside a safe area of about 70,70,1460,800.
Primary output: include a ## draw.io XML section with paste-ready XML for draw.io / diagrams.net. Do not only describe the diagram.
Style: use executive presentation styling: white background, thin light-grey borders, dark text, restrained pastel section fills, and one accent color for active/important process elements.
UML flows: when the content is a process, system interaction, knowledge workflow, actor-to-system exchange, API sequence, or handoff between roles/tools, prefer a UML sequence-flow diagram over a generic flowchart.
Sequence-flow visual language: use participant header boxes across the top with 24pt bold entity names, warm dashed vertical lifelines, teal activation bars, solid arrows for calls/writes, dashed arrows for returns/confirmations, and pastel loop/phase bands on the left.
Readability: number messages in order, keep labels short, align related messages on shared rows, and leave enough horizontal spacing for long arrows.
Branding: if the user provides a brand, place a small logo/text mark in the upper-left corner without letting it dominate the diagram.

For the house UML sequence-flow style, use charting-skill-sequential-flow.drawio as the canonical editable style reference, sequential-diagram-example.png as the screenshot reference, and uml_sequence_flow.md as the paste-ready XML example.

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The Top 16 Charts

| # | Chart | Primary Power | Best For | |---|-------|--------------|---------| | 1 | Gantt Chart | Timeline visibility | Project managers, PMO | | 2 | Waterfall Chart | Change decomposition | CFOs, financial analysts | | 3 | Balanced Scorecard Map | Strategy alignment | CEOs, strategy leads | | 4 | BCG Growth-Share Matrix | Portfolio prioritization | Entrepreneurs, VCs | | 5 | Fishbone / Ishikawa Diagram | Root cause analysis | Ops managers, QA leads | | 6 | SWOT Diagram | Situation analysis | All business leaders | | 7 | Funnel Chart | Conversion tracking | Sales, marketing, growth | | 8 | Burndown Chart | Sprint/project health | Agile PMs, tech leads | | 9 | Stakeholder Map | Influence & alignment | Change managers, PMs | | 10 | Value Stream Map | Waste elimination | Lean/operations leaders | | 11 | Heat Map | Priority density | Risk officers, strategists | | 12 | Business Model Canvas | Venture architecture | Entrepreneurs, founders | | 13 | RACI Chart | Accountability clarity | Project managers, HR | | 14 | OKR Tree / Goal Cascade | Objective alignment | CEO, department heads | | 15 | Decision Tree | Scenario planning | All strategic leaders | | 16 | UML Sequence Flow | Interaction clarity | Architects, PMs, ops leads |

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1. Gantt Chart

What it is: A horizontal bar chart showing tasks across a timeline with dependencies.

When to Use

Kicking off a project: map milestones, tasks, and owners across weeks/months
Mid-project check-ins: visualize slippage and reschedule dependencies
Stakeholder reporting: give executives a one-page project timeline view
Resource planning: spot overloads by seeing who owns what, when

Scenarios

| Scenario | How to Apply | |----------|-------------| | Product launch | Map all launch tracks (marketing, dev, legal, ops) in one view | | ERP implementation | Show phase gates: design → build → UAT → go-live | | Quarterly planning | Break OKRs into deliverables with dates | | Vendor management | Track external dependencies alongside internal tasks |

Key Elements

Task bars on a time axis
Milestones (diamonds) for critical deadlines
Dependencies (arrows) between tasks
Percent complete shading for progress

Common Pitfalls

Too granular (100+ tasks) → use summary-level Gantt for leaders
No buffer time between dependent tasks
Not updating weekly → stale charts erode trust

→ Example: gantt_chart.md

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2. Waterfall Chart

What it is: A bridge chart showing how individual positive/negative values cumulatively add up to a total.

When to Use

Monthly/quarterly P&L reviews: show revenue → COGS → gross profit → EBITDA
Budget variance analysis: starting budget → actual spend → ending balance
Headcount planning: starting HC → hires → attrition → ending HC
Project cost walk: baseline → change orders → final cost

Scenarios

| Scenario | How to Apply | |----------|-------------| | Board financial review | Walk from revenue to net income, showing each cost bucket | | Sales performance | Starting pipeline → new leads → closed → lost → ending pipeline | | Startup runway | Cash balance walk: funding → burn → milestones → runway end | | Market share | Start share → gained from competitors → lost → end share |

Key Elements

Floating bars for intermediate values (neither starting from zero)
Color coding: green = increases, red = decreases, grey = totals
Connector lines between bars for readability

Common Pitfalls

Mixing categories (cost types with revenue) confuses the narrative
Not labeling the delta on each bar
Using standard bar chart instead of true waterfall → loses the "bridge" story

→ Example: waterfall_chart.md

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3. Balanced Scorecard Map

What it is: A strategic framework linking objectives across four perspectives: Financial, Customer, Internal Processes, and Learning & Growth.

When to Use

Annual strategy setting: translate vision into measurable objectives
Executive alignment: ensure all departments pull toward the same goals
KPI cascading: link high-level strategy to team-level metrics
Board reporting: show strategy execution health holistically

Scenarios

| Scenario | How to Apply | |----------|-------------| | Corporate strategy review | Show 3–5 objectives per quadrant with owners and target KPIs | | Department alignment | Map each team's OKRs to the corporate scorecard | | Investor presentation | Demonstrate you manage the business beyond just financials | | Turnaround plan | Identify which quadrant is the root constraint (e.g., internal processes) |

Key Elements

Four quadrants: Financial → Customer → Internal Process → Learning & Growth
Cause-effect arrows linking objectives across perspectives
KPI, target, and owner per objective node

Common Pitfalls

Too many objectives (>5 per quadrant) dilutes focus
Missing cause-effect linkages → becomes a KPI list, not a strategy map
Not reviewing quarterly → becomes a wall decoration

→ Example: balanced_scorecard.md

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4. BCG Growth-Share Matrix

What it is: A 2×2 matrix plotting business units or products by market growth rate (Y) vs. relative market share (X).

When to Use

Portfolio review: decide where to invest, harvest, or divest
Product strategy: categorize products as Stars, Cash Cows, Question Marks, or Dogs
Resource allocation: direct R&D and capex to the right bets
M&A target screening: identify acquisition targets that complement your portfolio

Scenarios

| Scenario | How to Apply | |----------|-------------| | Multi-product company | Plot all product lines; allocate budget toward Stars | | Startup portfolio | VC mapping investments: which need more runway vs. which to double down | | Annual strategy offsite | Facilitate leadership debate on which "Question Marks" to accelerate | | Competitive analysis | Plot competitors' products to find market gaps |

Quadrant Guide

| Quadrant | Label | Action | |----------|-------|--------| | High growth, High share | ⭐ Star | Invest aggressively | | Low growth, High share | 🐄 Cash Cow | Harvest & fund Stars | | High growth, Low share | ❓ Question Mark | Decide: invest or kill | | Low growth, Low share | 🐕 Dog | Divest or maintain minimally |

Common Pitfalls

Using revenue share instead of relative market share
Ignoring synergies between units
Treating it as static — run it annually

→ Example: bcg_matrix.md

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5. Fishbone / Ishikawa Diagram

What it is: A cause-and-effect diagram shaped like a fish skeleton, grouping root causes by category.

When to Use

Post-mortem / incident review: find why a project failed or a bug escaped
Quality improvement: analyze defects in a product or process
Strategic problem framing: understand why a KPI is underperforming
Pre-mortem: anticipate failure modes before a launch

Scenarios

| Scenario | How to Apply | |----------|-------------| | Customer churn spike | Categories: Product, Support, Pricing, Onboarding, Competition | | Failed product launch | Categories: Marketing, Sales readiness, Tech, Operations, Timing | | Manufacturing defect | Classic 6M: Man, Machine, Method, Material, Measurement, Mother Nature | | Revenue miss | Categories: Pipeline, Win rate, Pricing, Retention, Expansion |

Key Elements

Head (effect): the problem statement
Spine: main horizontal arrow
Bones: category branches (usually 4–8)
Sub-bones: specific contributing causes

Common Pitfalls

Stopping at symptoms, not root causes (ask "Why?" 3–5 times per branch)
Too many bones → use affinity clustering first
Not validating causes with data

→ Example: fishbone_diagram.md

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6. SWOT Diagram

What it is: A 2×2 matrix capturing internal Strengths & Weaknesses vs. external Opportunities & Threats.

When to Use

Strategic planning sessions: baseline situational awareness
New market entry: assess readiness vs. market conditions
Competitive response: evaluate your position before a competitor move
Investor pitches: demonstrate self-awareness and strategic clarity

Scenarios

| Scenario | How to Apply | |----------|-------------| | Annual strategy offsite | Ground the team before setting objectives | | New product launch | Is the timing right given market threats? | | Partnership evaluation | Do partner strengths offset your weaknesses? | | Pivot decision | Are external opportunities strong enough to overcome internal weaknesses? |

Extension: TOWS Analysis

Convert SWOT into action by crossing quadrants:

S + O → Maxi-Maxi: leverage strengths to capture opportunities
W + O → Mini-Maxi: fix weaknesses to access opportunities
S + T → Maxi-Mini: use strengths to neutralize threats
W + T → Mini-Mini: reduce weaknesses to avoid threats

Common Pitfalls

Generic statements ("good team", "competition") — be specific
No prioritization within each quadrant
Not translating to action (TOWS extension solves this)

→ Example: swot_diagram.md

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7. Funnel Chart

What it is: A tapering shape showing volume at each stage of a sequential process.

When to Use

Sales pipeline management: Leads → MQL → SQL → Proposal → Close
Marketing conversion: Impressions → Clicks → Sign-ups → Activation → Retention
Hiring funnel: Applicants → Screened → Interview → Offer → Accepted
User onboarding: Registered → Profile complete → First action → Power user

Scenarios

| Scenario | How to Apply | |----------|-------------| | Sales QBR | Show where deals are leaking; focus coaching on biggest drop-off | | Growth review | Compare funnel week-over-week to detect conversion regressions | | Product analytics | Where do users drop off in the onboarding flow? | | Investor reporting | Demonstrate CAC efficiency and conversion benchmarks |

Key Metrics to Show

Volume at each stage
Conversion rate between stages (the critical insight)
Benchmark vs. prior period or industry standard

Common Pitfalls

Not showing conversion % between stages — the bar heights alone are misleading
Too many stages (>7) — consolidate
Mixing B2B and B2C funnels with different definitions

→ Example: funnel_chart.md

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8. Burndown Chart

What it is: A line chart tracking remaining work (Y-axis) against time (X-axis), compared to an ideal burndown line.

When to Use

Agile sprints: daily tracking of story points remaining
Project delivery: track remaining features/tasks vs. a deadline
Release planning: will we make the ship date at current velocity?
Budget burn: actual spend vs. planned spend over a project timeline

Scenarios

| Scenario | How to Apply | |----------|-------------| | Sprint planning | Set baseline ideal line; track daily actuals | | Program increment | 8-week PI burndown for SAFe or scaled agile programs | | Product launch countdown | Features remaining vs. launch date | | Cost control | Budget remaining vs. project timeline |

Key Elements

Ideal line: straight line from total work to zero at deadline
Actual line: daily/weekly actual remaining work
Scope change markers: annotate when new work was added

Reading the Chart

Actual above ideal → behind schedule
Actual below ideal → ahead of schedule or scope was removed
Flat actual line → team is blocked or not logging progress

→ Example: burndown_chart.md

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9. Stakeholder Map

What it is: A 2×2 matrix plotting stakeholders by Power (Y) vs. Interest (X) to drive engagement strategy.

When to Use

Project initiation: identify who needs to be managed vs. informed
Change management: plan communications for organizational changes
Product launches: align internal sponsors and manage resistant stakeholders
Political navigation: understand the power landscape before critical decisions

Scenarios

| Scenario | How to Apply | |----------|-------------| | ERP rollout | Plot IT, Finance, Operations, Legal, and C-suite — who will block? | | M&A integration | Map acquiree leadership to design the integration comm plan | | Regulatory approval | Identify high-power, low-interest regulators — keep them satisfied | | New product launch | Engage high-interest champions as advocates |

Quadrant Engagement Strategy

| Quadrant | Label | Strategy | |----------|-------|----------| | High power, High interest | Key Players | Manage closely — involve in decisions | | High power, Low interest | Keep Satisfied | Regular status; don't overwhelm | | Low power, High interest | Keep Informed | Newsletters, open forums | | Low power, Low interest | Monitor | Minimal effort; watch for changes |

Common Pitfalls

Treating the map as static — stakeholder positions shift
Forgetting informal influencers (low power but high credibility)
Confusing "interest" with "support" — opposed stakeholders are high-interest too

→ Example: stakeholder_map.md

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10. Value Stream Map

What it is: A lean process diagram showing every step in a value chain, with time, inventory, and information flows.

When to Use

Process improvement: identify where time and money are wasted
Lean transformation: visualize current vs. future state
Digital transformation: map manual steps that should be automated
Operations benchmarking: compare your process time to best-in-class

Scenarios

| Scenario | How to Apply | |----------|-------------| | Order-to-cash optimization | Map every step from customer order to cash received | | Software delivery pipeline | Code commit → review → test → deploy → monitor | | Customer onboarding | Application → verification → approval → activation | | Supply chain audit | Supplier → warehouse → production → distribution → customer |

Key Elements

Process boxes: each step with cycle time and uptime
Push/pull arrows: show how work flows between steps
Inventory triangles: queues between steps
Timeline bar: value-added time vs. total lead time

Key Insight

The gap between value-added time and total lead time is your improvement opportunity. In most processes, value-added time is < 5% of total lead time.

→ Example: value_stream_map.md

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11. Heat Map

What it is: A grid where cell color intensity represents the magnitude of a value — typically used for risk or priority scoring.

When to Use

Risk management: plot risks by likelihood × impact
Product roadmap prioritization: effort × value scoring of features
Sales territory analysis: performance by region × product line
Resource utilization: team workload by person × week

Scenarios

| Scenario | How to Apply | |----------|-------------| | Enterprise risk register | 5×5 grid: Likelihood (1–5) × Impact (1–5) → color code risks | | Feature backlog | Value vs. effort matrix; top-right = quick wins | | Customer segmentation | Revenue × growth potential by segment | | Cyber security audit | Threat likelihood × business damage |

Color Conventions

| Color | Meaning | |-------|---------| | 🔴 Red | Critical / Act now | | 🟠 Orange | High / Plan mitigation | | 🟡 Yellow | Medium / Monitor | | 🟢 Green | Low / Accept |

Common Pitfalls

Subjective scoring without calibration → use a scoring rubric
Too many items on one heat map → segment into domains
Not dating the map → stale risk maps are dangerous

→ Example: heat_map.md

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12. Business Model Canvas

What it is: A one-page strategic template with 9 building blocks describing how a business creates, delivers, and captures value.

When to Use

Startup ideation: stress-test the business model before building
Pivot planning: visualize what changes when the model shifts
Investor pitch preparation: communicate the full business model concisely
Competitive analysis: map a competitor's model to find gaps to exploit

Scenarios

| Scenario | How to Apply | |----------|-------------| | Pre-seed pitch | Show all 9 blocks; be honest about unknowns | | Established company pivot | Change Value Proposition → trace impact to all other blocks | | Partnership negotiation | Overlay partner's canvas to find complementary blocks | | New market entry | Clone existing canvas, adapt Customer Segments and Channels |

The 9 Blocks

| Block | Question | |-------|---------| | Customer Segments | Who are we creating value for? | | Value Propositions | What problem do we solve? | | Channels | How do we reach customers? | | Customer Relationships | How do we acquire and retain? | | Revenue Streams | How do we make money? | | Key Resources | What assets are essential? | | Key Activities | What must we do well? | | Key Partnerships | Who do we rely on? | | Cost Structure | What are the major costs? |

→ Example: business_model_canvas.md

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13. RACI Chart

What it is: A responsibility assignment matrix showing who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed for each task.

When to Use

Project kickoff: eliminate ambiguity about who owns what
Cross-functional initiatives: clarify roles across departments
Process documentation: define ownership at each process step
Conflict resolution: reference the RACI when ownership disputes arise

Scenarios

| Scenario | How to Apply | |----------|-------------| | Software release | Tasks: code, test, approve, deploy, communicate — assign RACI | | Budget approval process | Finance, Business, Legal, CEO — who decides vs. who advises | | Hiring process | Recruiter, Hiring Manager, HR, Panel — clear at each stage | | Incident response | On-call, Manager, PR, Legal, Leadership — who does what |

RACI Definitions

| Letter | Role | Rule | |--------|------|------| | R | Responsible | Does the work. Can be multiple people. | | A | Accountable | Signs off. Must be exactly ONE person. | | C | Consulted | Input required before decision. Two-way comm. | | I | Informed | Notified of outcome. One-way comm. |

Common Pitfalls

Multiple A → no clear owner, leads to conflict
No R on a task → it will never get done
Over-consulting → too many C's slows decisions
Confusing C and I → consult people who add value, inform the rest

→ Example: raci_chart.md

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14. OKR Tree / Goal Cascade

What it is: A hierarchical tree diagram showing how company-level Objectives break down into departmental and team-level OKRs.

When to Use

Quarterly planning: cascade company OKRs to teams
Annual strategy alignment: ensure every team has line-of-sight to company goals
Progress reviews: show which branches are on-track vs. at-risk
New team onboarding: explain how their work connects to company strategy

Scenarios

| Scenario | How to Apply | |----------|-------------| | Q3 planning | CEO sets 3 company OKRs → VP level breaks into dept KRs → teams own tasks | | Remote team alignment | Shared visual shows every team's contribution to company goals | | Board update | Roll up all dept OKRs to company level with RAG (Red/Amber/Green) status | | Investor due diligence | Demonstrate goal-setting discipline and execution tracking |

Tree Structure

Company Objective
├── KR1: [Measurable outcome]
│   ├── Dept Objective A → supports KR1
│   │   └── Team KR: [specific metric]
│   └── Dept Objective B → supports KR1
└── KR2: [Measurable outcome]
    └── Dept Objective C → supports KR2

Common Pitfalls

Output-based KRs instead of outcome-based ("launch feature" vs. "increase retention 10%")
Too many OKRs (>3 per level) → dilutes focus
No mid-quarter review → OKRs become a formality

→ Example: okr_tree.md

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15. Decision Tree

What it is: A branching flowchart mapping decisions and their possible outcomes, including probabilities and expected values.

When to Use

Go/No-go decisions: evaluate a product launch, investment, or pivot
Risk analysis: quantify expected value of different paths
Policy design: codify decision rules for recurring situations
Crisis management: pre-plan responses to scenario branches

Scenarios

| Scenario | How to Apply | |----------|-------------| | Market entry decision | Enter now vs. wait; each branch has cost, probability, and payoff | | Pricing strategy | Premium vs. market vs. penetration pricing — model revenue outcomes | | Hiring decision | Internal promotion vs. external hire — map fit, risk, cost | | Fundraising | Bootstrap vs. seed vs. Series A — model runway and dilution |

Key Elements

Square nodes: decision points (you choose)
Circle nodes: chance events (probability-weighted)
Triangle nodes: outcomes (expected value = probability × payoff)
Pruning: eliminate branches with negative expected value

Expected Value Calculation

EV = Σ (Probability × Outcome)
Example: 
  60% chance of $1M success = $600K
  40% chance of $200K failure = $80K
  EV = $600K + $80K = $680K

→ Example: decision_tree.md

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16. UML Sequence Flow

What it is: A time-ordered interaction diagram showing how actors, systems, tools, or data stores exchange messages across a workflow.

When to Use

Knowledge extraction, research, or analysis pipelines: User → LLM → raw data → processed data → analysis → output
Product/system design: user actions, services, APIs, databases, queues, and downstream consumers
Operational handoffs: requester, reviewer, automation, records, compliance, and reporting
AI-agent workflows: planner, tool calls, file reads/writes, validation, and final synthesis

Scenarios

| Scenario | How to Apply | |----------|-------------| | Knowledge extraction | Show discovery, scripting, cooking, analysis, synthesis, and visualization loops | | API integration | Show request, service orchestration, database calls, external provider calls, and responses | | AI workflow audit | Show user prompts, model actions, tool reads/writes, validation gates, and returned artifacts | | Process governance | Show phase ownership, approvals, exception checks, and final record creation |

Key Elements

Participants: header boxes across the top for each actor/system/data store, with 24pt bold entity names
Lifelines: warm amber vertical dashed lines under each participant
Activation bars: teal vertical rectangles where a participant is active
Messages: solid arrows for calls, reads, writes, and commands; dashed arrows for returns and confirmations
Loop/phase labels: pastel bands on the left describing repeated workflow stages
Annotations: short notes under important cross-system actions, such as consolidation or conflict checks

Visual Rules

Use a 16:9 draw.io page (1600x900) unless the user explicitly asks for another size.
Keep the title centered at the top, with optional small brand mark at upper left.
Use neutral participant headers (#F7F7F7, #D9D9D9) with 24pt bold text and warm dashed lifelines (#D6A15E).
Use teal activation bars (#55C7BE, #2AA79E) to mirror the reference style.
Use soft loop fills: blue discover, yellow script, pink cook/synthesize, green analyze.
Avoid dense decorative backgrounds; this style should look like a clean PowerPoint-ready architecture/UML slide.

→ Example: uml_sequence_flow.md

Billionary Trader Sequence Examples

Live account review loop: billionary_trader_live_review_sequence.md
Backtest engine loop: billionary_trader_backtest_sequence.md
Playbook evolution loop: billionary_trader_playbook_evolution_sequence.md

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Quick Reference: Chart Selection Guide

| Business Question | Best Chart | |-------------------|-----------| | "Are we on track?" | Burndown, Gantt | | "Where is the money going?" | Waterfall | | "What caused this problem?" | Fishbone | | "Who does what?" | RACI | | "Where should we invest?" | BCG Matrix, Heat Map | | "What's our strategy?" | Balanced Scorecard, OKR Tree | | "What's our business model?" | Business Model Canvas | | "Where are leads dropping off?" | Funnel | | "What's our situation?" | SWOT | | "Which path should we take?" | Decision Tree | | "How do actors/systems exchange steps over time?" | UML Sequence Flow | | "Who do we need to manage?" | Stakeholder Map | | "Where is waste in our process?" | Value Stream Map |

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*All examples include draw.io XML for immediate use. Open draw.io → Extras → Edit Diagram → paste XML. New plots should default to a 16:9 draw.io page unless the user requests another ratio.*