Business Architecture
Business architecture keeps failing in the same place. Not because the model is wrong, but because it was built to ignore the code the organisation actually runs on. This is the fifth and final article in The Missing Domain series — and the one that says what to do about it.
Business Architecture
The profession's standard defence is that culture is too soft to map. That defence is wrong. Not subtly wrong. Empirical frameworks for characterising organisational culture have existed for decades. Business architecture has simply chosen not to look at them.
Business Architecture
Every organisation has three cultures. The one in the mission statement. The one in the policy documents. And the one that shows up when the stakes are real. Most transformation programmes design for the first two. The third one is the one that decides whether your programme lives or dies.
Business Architecture
In 2016, a textbook-correct transformation at a Channel Islands wealth firm collapsed two weeks after go-live. The reason was not in any of the frameworks we had used. It was in the one component business architecture refuses to map.
Operating Model
The target operating model is one of the most widely used artefacts in business architecture. It is also an artefact that the world no longer respects. What if the problem is not the TOM itself, but the five-year cadence and mega-programme delivery we keep wrapping around it?
Operating Model
Before I turn to the professional analysis in this article, I want to be honest about the context. The conflict that began on 28 February 2026 has cost thousands of lives. But its consequences have reached into the daily lives of people far beyond the conflict zone. Fuel rationing has
Operating Model
Here is a thought experiment. Take your organisation's most complex delivery challenge last year — a regulatory programme, a product launch, a major incident. Now look at the org chart. How many of the people who actually solved it report to the same box? Very few, I would wager.
Future of Work
Across the UK (and globally), more organisations are recalibrating hybrid working and raising minimum in-office expectations after several years of flexibility. In UK financial services, for example, several large firms have publicly tightened attendance baselines—often moving from two to three in-office days for many roles. Industry research points to
Regulation & Resilience
On 31 March 2025, the UK operational resilience transition period ended. For many firms, that date quietly changed the question from “Are we ready for the deadline?” to “Can we keep proving we’re resilient—week in, week out?” That distinction matters. Programmes finish. Resilience does not. The FCA’s
Operating Model
What peak season reveals about how your organisation really works—and how Business Architecture helps you fix it. It’s almost Christmas. The lights go up, the out-of-office messages multiply, and suddenly the organisation is asked to do something very simple on paper: Deliver on promises. Whether those promises are
Business Architecture
Most organisations unknowingly pay twice for the same outcomes. A one-page Duplicate Spend Heatmap reveals overlap fast and lets leaders decide to keep, consolidate, or retire with under‑12‑month payback. Within 90 days you should see run‑rate savings, faster release lead‑times, and fewer audit issues. The problem
Operating Model
Plain truth: Beautiful journey posters don’t help customers if the steps behind them are slow, error-prone, or full of hand-offs. Experience Architecture is a simple way to connect the journey your customer sees to the “capabilities” (the business abilities and systems) that power it—and then improve what matters