ICM methodology

How Simplicity IT applies selected principles from the Interpretable Context Methodology inside Microsoft environments, and who developed the methodology we are applying.

Methodology note

ICM was developed by Jake Van Clief and David McDermott. Simplicity IT did not originate the methodology.

Simplicity IT's founder participates in Clief Notes, a public learning community run by Jake Van Clief, and studies ICM through the authors' published work and Jake's practical teaching. Simplicity IT applies selected ICM principles through Microsoft 365 implementation, governance, security, adoption, and managed operations.

Participation does not imply certification, endorsement, partnership, or an official ICM Architect designation.

Interpretable Context Methodology: Folder Structure as Agentic Architecture (opens in a new tab) by Jake Van Clief and David McDermott. arXiv:2603.16021.

How we apply selected ICM principles

We take four principles from the methodology and apply them to Microsoft delivery. This is our application of someone else's ideas, not a variant of the methodology and not a product.

  • Context that a reviewer can read without a walkthrough.
  • Provenance for the decisions and the material behind them.
  • Intermediate work kept reviewable rather than discarded.
  • A human approval seam at the point of change.

Where that shows up in the work: Microsoft 365 implementation, governance, security, adoption, and managed operations. The test we hold ourselves to is whether a reviewer who was not present can reconstruct why a decision was made, from the record alone.

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