The Organisation Behind the Technology

Organisations regularly invest in technology to improve services, increase efficiency or respond to changing customer expectations. The technology may deliver everything promised, but the anticipated improvements can remain difficult to realise. Processes still cross multiple departments, responsibilities remain fragmented and the capabilities needed to deliver a service don't always work together.

The underlying challenge lies often in how the organisation operates rather than the technology itself.

Every organisation has an operating model, whether it has been deliberately designed or not. It evolves as services expand, responsibilities change, capabilities develop and technology is introduced. These developments often make sense individually, but collectively can create ways of working that are increasingly difficult to keep on top of.

Why examining how we work can be difficult

Understanding an operating model involves examining how services, capabilities, people, partners and technology come together to deliver outcomes, including the relationships between them.

This can be uncomfortable. It may reveal duplicated capabilities, unclear responsibilities or established practices that no longer serve their purpose. It can also challenge assumptions about previous investments and decisions, even when those decisions were reasonable at the time.

Organisations are often more comfortable investing in technology. A new platform offers a tangible proposition, with defined features, costs, implementation plans and anticipated benefits. Improving an operating model is harder to articulate, particularly when changes cross organisational boundaries.

Traditional approaches have sometimes reinforced this reluctance. Large operating-model engagements can involve extensive analysis, documentation and investment before improvements become visible.

There is also a less obvious challenge. Organisations may recognise individual problems without seeing their connections to other areas. An inefficient process might reflect fragmented responsibilities, while a technology limitation may originate in capabilities that have developed independently. Addressing one element without understanding its relationships can leave the underlying problem unresolved.

Start with what matters

Understanding an operating model doesn't require examining everything at once. A practical approach is to begin where greater clarity could make a meaningful difference.

That might be an important customer service, an underperforming capability or a persistent problem that previous improvements have failed to resolve.

From there, the organisation can explore what is involved, how the different elements connect and where those connections create difficulties. This can reveal dependencies, duplication and opportunities that are difficult to recognise when departments consider their responsibilities separately.

At BigHouse, our Clarity Canvas supports this approach through three connected activities. Define develops an understanding of the organisation's services, capabilities and operating environment. Align makes visible how these elements connect, including which capabilities and technologies contribute to delivering particular services. Govern helps maintain that understanding and use it to support decisions, accountability and improvement.

The approach is deliberately progressive. Organisations can begin with what needs attention and expand their understanding as new relationships emerge. The purpose is to establish enough clarity to make informed decisions, rather than document the entire organisation before anything can change.

An operating model is a living thing

Even a well-understood operating model continues to evolve. Customer expectations change, services develop, capabilities mature and technology platforms are replaced. New partnerships and ways of working introduce additional relationships and dependencies. Treating operating-model work as a one-off exercise can undermine its value. A carefully documented model may provide useful insights initially, but left untouched for years, it can describe an organisation that no longer exists.

Maintaining that understanding requires more than periodically updating a document. The important elements of an operating model, and the relationships between them, need to become part of the organisation's governance practices and the technologies supporting its decisions.

For example, when introducing a new digital channel, an organisation should understand which services and capabilities are affected, what dependencies exist and where responsibilities may need to change. Rather than starting another discovery exercise, it can build on what it already knows. This doesn't require constant organisation-wide reviews or elaborate documentation. It requires relevant information to remain accessible, sufficiently accurate and connected to the decisions being made.

Over time, the organisation develops a clearer understanding of how it works through the improvements and changes it undertakes.

Understanding how we work

An operating model influences how effectively an organisation delivers services, responds to changing needs and realises value from its investments. Examining it can involve difficult conversations, but meaningful improvements don't have to begin with an expensive, organisation-wide programme.

By starting with what matters and building understanding progressively, organisations can make better decisions about their services, capabilities and investments. As that understanding becomes embedded in governance and everyday decision-making, the operating model becomes a practical means of guiding change rather than a document describing how things once worked.

The real value comes from knowing how the organisation works today, understanding what needs to change and having the clarity to keep improving it.