Capability Modeling Guidelines | How to Structure a Capability Map

Identify Capabilities that can be Reused Across Processes

Starting with “going with the flow” as the first step in identifying core capabilities typically leads to process-aligned capabilities and, as a consequence, process-aligned organisations. This approach optimises your architecture for the efficiency of core processes.

The problem with a purely flow-aligned architecture, however, is that the more you optimise for flow, the less adaptable your company becomes. The reason is that the same capabilities are often required in multiple processes. If you don’t reuse those activities across processes, you waste money, lose the benefits of specialisation, and reduce the overall adaptability of the enterprise.

To design enterprises that are both efficient and adaptive, you need to complement the flow-based approach with the idea of non-overlapping, organic modules by identifying capabilities that can be reused across your initial product-creation flows.