Diagnose, Predict, and Strengthen the Systems You Rely On.
The System Health Index (SHI) turns scattered data into a living pulse so you can see risk early and act with precision.
What the System Health Index Is and What It Measures
The System Health Index (SHI) is a diagnostic tool that gives any system a pulse. It takes raw inputs, tracks how they move through the system, and shows whether the whole is trending toward resilience or collapse.
What SHI is:
A framework that works the same across businesses, ecosystems, and organizations.
A measurement system that turns scattered data into a single health signal.
A living diagnostic - like a stethoscope for systems.
What SHI measures:
Inputs: The resources a system depends on (time, money, food, habitat, labor).
Throughput: How those resources are converted into work, growth, or change.
Outputs: The results - production, survival, performance, wellbeing.
Resilience: How well the system adapts to pressure, shocks, or scarcity.
Trends: Whether the system is stabilizing, declining, or approaching collapse.
SHI doesn’t just count data points - it shows how the pieces connect, and where action will make the biggest difference.
Why SHI Works
SHI is built on the same laws that govern energy and matter. Like a body, every system depends on inputs, is shaped by its boundaries, and produces throughput as it works. By measuring these flows, SHI reveals where energy is wasted, where pressure builds, and how resilient the system truly is. The result is a living pulse that shows when health is rising, falling, or approaching collapse.
A tool to help diagnose real pressures in real time.
After years of hands-on experience in leadership, diagnostics, and systems design, we founded Pulse by SHI to help organizations uncover hidden inefficiencies and unlock their true operational potential. Through our dynamic reporting tools and intuitive visual insights, we bring clarity, confidence, and action to the heart of your system.
WHY SYSTEMS FAIL AND HOW SHI RESTORES HEALTH
Why systems fail
Hidden inefficiencies drain resources.
Data stays siloed or ignored.
Leaders react too late to early warning signs.
Unprepared systems buckle under external pressures.
How SHI restores health
Converts raw inputs into a clear SHI score and pulse graph.
Flags stress before it becomes collapse.
Ties every recommendation to measurable variables.
Guides systems toward stability, resilience, and growth.
Your system is talking. This is how we listen.
The Pulse by SHI dashboard can compresses thousands of operational data points into a single, readable moment. Each color shift marks a change in system health — green for stability, yellow for warning, orange for strain, and red for critical decline. Together, these indicators tell the real story behind performance, risk, and resilience.
Three Ways we Read Your Pulse.
THREE WAYS WE MEASURE YOUR PULSE
Pulse — Full Suite
For organizations that need continuous, cross-system diagnostics.
Includes 12-week pulse tracking, variable reporting, correlation analysis, trend mapping, and predictive resilience modeling.
Compass — Ecological Suite
For conservation groups and research teams safeguarding ecosystems.
Includes 12-month tracking of species/habitat stressors, sourced variables, projections, and resilience scoring.
Flashlight — Targeted Insight
For teams that need focused scans to uncover blind spots.
Includes data-gap detection, actionable checklists, and operational resilience recommendations.
WHY IT MATTERS
Every system faces pressure. Few measure it until it’s too late. SHI makes those pressures visible, measurable, and actionable so you can prevent breakdowns, strengthen resilience, unlock leadership clarity, and build long-term stability.
SHI makes every intervention a non-regret move. Action plans target the weakest variables first, so one of two things happens: the pulse rises, or the dip exposes the real constraint we weren’t measuring. Either way you win -performance improves or the system hands you the next, highest-ROI fix. If the pulse still drops, that’s not failure; it’s valuable signal that sharpens the plan for the next report.
WHO USES SHI
Trusted by organizations that steward complex systems:
Municipalities & local governments
Why: To catch cracks in infrastructure, budgets, and services before they spiral into costly failures. SHI turns fragmented data into a living pulse so leaders can act early.
Wildlife & conservation groups
Why: To measure stress in ecosystems where raw data is scattered and delayed. SHI unifies habitat, population, and climate pressures into a clear resilience score.
Enterprises & small teams
Why: To replace guesswork with foresight. SHI tracks weak points in processes, finances, and morale so organizations don’t just react - they predict and prevent.
Research & academic programs
Why: To move from raw data to actionable insight. SHI bridges observation and application, showing how variables interact over time and where interventions matter most.
How SHI Is Different
Most tools measure fragments. They track KPIs, count incidents, or log budget lines - but they don’t show how the pieces interact, or what happens next.
SHI measures systems.
Fractal lens: Whether it’s a business, a species, or a city, SHI applies the same universal framework - inputs, throughput, outputs, and resilience.
Pulse graph: A living heartbeat that shows not just where you are, but whether health is trending up or down.
Action plans: Every recommendation targets the weakest variable first, making regression impossible - each move is a non-regret action.
Predictive edge: By tracking change over time, SHI doesn’t just describe the system - it signals collapse windows and recovery paths.
SHI isn’t just analytics. It’s a doctor’s visit for your system.
Works With the Data You Already Track
Most organizations already measure budgets, KPIs, or operational metrics - but they sit in silos. SHI doesn’t replace those numbers, it connects them. By aligning BI data with system variables, SHI turns scattered metrics into a single heartbeat pulse. What once looked like noise now reveals a clear rhythm of health, risk, and resilience.
Doing What No One Else Has Done
Most tools stop at numbers. They track production, budgets, or KPIs, but they miss the most critical factor: how leadership time is actually spent.
SHI introduces Command Load.
Through short, structured questionnaires, leaders can quantify how much of their workday is spent within their true scope versus outside it. Every minute spent covering out-of-scope tasks - from firefighting unplanned issues to filling operational gaps - adds invisible strain to leadership capacity.
By capturing this balance, SHI reveals when leaders are truly steering the system, and when they’re forced to wear multiple hats. This turns leadership strain into measurable data, giving organizations a way to see how role misalignment impacts system health.
For the first time, you get a system report that shows not only the hard numbers, but also the hidden drag of scope creep on your leadership team.
Capturing External Factors
Pulse and Compass don’t stop at internal metrics — they actively incorporate external pressures into system health reports. From market shifts and environmental stressors to regulatory changes or supply chain volatility, these outside forces are integrated into the pulse. This means you’re not only measuring system health from the inside out, but also mapping the external pressure points that can trigger systemic failure.
“We can’t impose our will on a system. We can listen to what the system tells us, and discover how its properties and our values can work together to bring forth something much better than could ever be produced by our will alone.”