Tag Archives: process of design

Five guiding thoughts for good operating model work

Posted on June 15, 2020 by

I enjoyed reading an article by Marcia Blenko, a Bain & Co advisor, about operating model work for charities – https://www.bridgespan.org/insights/library/organizational-effectiveness/nonprofit-operating-models.  The article follows the Bain definition of an operating model, which is focused on organisation structure, accountabilities, governance, systems … Continue reading →

Posted in Decision grids, Design principles, Design tools, Strategy, Tips for design work | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Finance function operating model

Posted on April 1, 2020 by

I was recently asked to give some help to a team working on an operating model for their Finance function.  The prime objective was to upgrade the function, so that it added more value and cost significantly less.  The particular … Continue reading →

Posted in Finance function, functional alignment, Value chain | Tagged , | 16 Comments

How to work with someone who does not understand operating models?

Posted on October 21, 2016 by

Today I was asked an interesting question.  How can one engage senior managers in the importance of doing operating model work?   My answer was that this is the wrong question, and I gave the analogy of a carpenter.   If someone … Continue reading →

Posted in Design steps, Getting a brief from the client | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Eleven visuals that communicate an operating model.

Posted on August 26, 2016 by

As some of you may know, I am writing a book on operating models, which will probably be called “Operating Model Canvas” – to connect with the “Business Model Canvas”.  I am also making this the center piece of my … Continue reading →

Posted in Design tools, Operating Model Canvas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

Tools for examining an existing or proposed operating model

Posted on February 15, 2016 by
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Working on an operating model

Posted on May 6, 2015 by

In a recent LinkedIn discussion, Don Hutcheson raised the question of the role of organisation charts in Enterprise Architecture (which for me is just operating model work!) There were some interesting responses, which stimulated me to add this post (edited … Continue reading →

Posted in Design tools | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Value Streams, Context Maps and Process Maps

Posted on February 8, 2015 by

I have just been reading a 2013 article by Mike Rosen of Wilton Consulting Group about “context maps”.   I don’t like the name, but the article does quite a good job of laying out a flow of analysis that is … Continue reading →

Posted in Design tools, Value chain | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Levels and actors in the design process

Posted on April 30, 2014 by

I was stimulated by two recent inputs.  One was my two day course Designing Operating Models which ran at the end of April.   Great inputs from participants.  The second is a discussion on LinkedIn about the difference between architects and … Continue reading →

Posted in Design steps, Levels of design | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

How much detail do you need

Posted on April 30, 2014 by

This is a re-post of a previous blog that I have had to trash because it was attracting a stream of spam.  If you have read it before – my apologies. In a recent workshop, we were working on operating … Continue reading →

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Maybe there is a role for a capability map

Posted on April 16, 2014 by

Last night I was reading Roger Martin’s book “Playing to Win”. It is mainly about P&G. The chapter I focused on was the one where he talks about core capabilities. He draws on Michael Porter’s article “What is strategy?” and … Continue reading →

Posted in Capabilities, Design steps, Design tools | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment