Capability Modelling Guidelines

Capability Modelling Guidelines

Phase: Focus | Explore | Co-Create | Lead & Coordinate | Realise | Sustain

Scope: Architecture

Flight Level: Operations | Coordination | Strategy |

Authors: Jim Dowling, Capable Company & Wolfgang Goebl, Intersection Group

Get the Capability Modelling Guidelines as PDF

Guidelines for designing purpose-aligned and adaptive enterprises

The Capability Modelling Guidelines help co-design your Capability Map, enabling people to focus investments according to the enterprise’s purposes and to create modular, adaptive enterprises. They explain how to structure the map, engage co-creators from both top-down and bottom-up, address social aspects, benchmark the current state, clarify the vision, and identify which capabilities to prioritise for investment and change.

Why and when to use

Most enterprises struggle with executing their purposes. Strategic intent, expressed in the language of a few visionaries, tends to get lost when many co-creators attempt to operationalise it. Enterprise architectures are rarely designed in a systematic and coherent way based on shared purposes. Various design and architecture disciplines focus on the how before the enterprise is even clear about the what it needs to be capable of doing tomorrow to pursue a shared why.

The consequences are severe: project portfolios are not aligned with the strategy, money is wasted on improvements that don’t matter, organisations are structured more by corporate politics than by conscious and well-informed decisions, IT structures are overly costly and built in isolation, and are misaligned with the organisation.

If you (like many of us) work in a company that shows these symptoms, then the Capability Guidelines help you design all elements of your enterprise's architecture as organic modules aligned with your purposes.

A well-designed capability model

• serves as a vehicle for aligning people around shared enterprise purposes;
• is a blueprint for a modular, adaptive organisation;
• clarifies strategic priorities;
• identifies missing or underperforming capabilities;
• helps to focus investments on changes that matter;
• defines what your organisational and IT structures must deliver.

Content

1. How to Structure a Capability Map
   1. Designing Capabilities as Organic Modules
   2. Capability Categories
   3. Capability Hierarchy
   4. Designing Capabilities Around Activities or Objects
   5. Follow the Flow to Product Delivery
   6. Identify Capabilities that can be Reused Across Processes
   7. Identify Shared and Change Capabilities
   8. Ensure clear Names and Descriptions
   9. Create a Two-Dimensional Layout
2. How to Use Capabilities to Align Investments with Purpose
   1. Seek Outside Inspiration to Overcome the Blank Page
   2. Explore Existing Enterprise Content
   3. Get Mandate by Senior Leaders
   4. Co-Create Through Top-Down and Bottom-Up Iteration
   5. Involve Business Experts
   6. Deal with the Resistance of Middle Managers
   7. Benchmark As-Is Capabilities
   8. Clarify Vision
   9. Indicate Where to Focus
3. How to derive your organisational structure from capabilities (coming in 2026)

The first section explains how to design capabilities as organic modules and organise them into categories and hierarchies. It shows how to optimise capabilities for flow and provides guidelines for naming and layout.

The second part provides practical guidelines for using the Capability Map to align co-creators (from senior leaders to people at the operational level) around the shared purposes of the enterprise. It offers practical guidance on turning strategy into action by applying capability benchmarking techniques to determine which capabilities should be prioritised for investment.

Coming in 2026: 'How to Derive Your Organisational Structure from Capabilities' will explain how a 'capability first, organisational structure second' approach can be a game-changer for creating better organisations. Message us at hello@intersection.group if you would like to contribute or review.

Resources

• Spreadsheet to calculate the 'focus' indicator (Excel Download)

Training

• Join our upcoming EDGY Capability Modelling online course.
  Starting September 16.

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