Frameworks

Core organization design frameworks.

We know the joke: consultants use way too many frameworks. But these are our favorites. Rooted in Jay Galbraith’s methodology and refined over years of practice, these are the essential models we rely on to guide our clients.

Enterprise Operating Model

How we do the design work.

Are we fully aligned on our mega-choices: where to play and how to win?
What capabilities or muscles do we need to build to win against competitors and execute against our strategy?
How integrated or separate should our business lines be?
What are the stakes in the ground for how we will run the business moving forward? What do we want every leader to know about how we will operate differently?
How will we group work and resources?
Who is accountable for key business results; where is it shared? Have we eliminated accountability “grey zones”?
How do we ensure each layer of leadership is providing a unique contribution?
How does work flow between roles? Who makes the final call on cross-boundary tension areas?

An operating model translates strategic choices into an organization that can execute them. This framework provides a holistic view of every component, guiding you through the specific sequence of decisions needed to design how the enterprise will run. The decisions generally fall in this sequence, but the framework is a thinking tool rather than a rigid process: teams loop back and revisit earlier choices as the design sharpens.

How we use it with clients

We use this framework to help leadership teams think through the full set of operating model decisions, usually in facilitated sessions against explicit design criteria. The order flexes with the situation; what matters is that nothing gets skipped, and that the engagement ends with a documented set of choices every leader can trace back to strategy.