Causeway | Connected Business Change, Overview

OVERVIEW

A HANDBOOK FOR BUSINESS CHANGE

Causeway is for the Change Leader who has a Business Vision to get to market. It is a handbook of pragmatic actions to co-ordinate change across the organization.

The established Change Program approach is workstream-based; a solution is pitched, the ‘doability’ is signed off, then transactiondriven, use-case build is pursued.

This is too simplistic for complex business change.

The established approach is intrinsically flawed as it does not recognise the dynamic interactions of a business.

A Business Change framework needs to recognise the challenging nature of change – high risk, high interdependence, high commitment.

Causeway emphasises coherent, across-the-business design over siloed, workstream development. It is driven by Viability, taking a step beyond ‘Doability’ to build a stable, dynamic business.

Created from experience in Marketing, Supply Chain and Data Systems, Causeway fills the gap between Vision and Work Control.

THE WHY

| CHANGE PRODUCTIVITY

Causeway has been built plain and simply by a need for business productivity – getting a Viable Business Architecture to Market with the most efficient use of time and effort.

Productive Business Design and Build should deliver a stable Architecture that can engage with the dynamics of the market.

Design has to take a connected, across-the-business perspective to achieve this. Yet, business is overwhelmingly siloed; people work, are educated, and are rewarded within their discipline.

There is an absence of pragmatic guidance on how to co-ordinate across the business disciplines to build a Coherent Architecture. There is an absence of a common language for Connected Business Change.

The Causeway Framework has been designed and built to make meetings more efficient and market launches more effective.

Causeway fills this space in the Change Leader’s toolkit.

THE PROBLEM | SHORTFALLS OF BUSINESS CHANGE PROGRAMS

In complex change, it Is challenging to be successful and to avoid three commercial shortfalls:

• Financial

o The Business Change falls short on market, operations, and financial expectations.

• Time-to-Market:

o Build goes beyond schedule

• Output Control:

o A loss of build control, with few to zero assets signedoff and adding asset value

These events happening is not a case of unfortunate mishaps. It is a situation of good business people, with rational strategic visions, being failed by the absence of a relevant change process.

Embedded flaws

Hiding in plain sight are built-in flaws that increase the probability of cost over-run and revenue under-performance. Common flaws to rectify are:

• The Business Architecture is not designed and built for a connected and dynamic world

• The Program Components are under-prioritised

• Customer Behaviour is under-explored

• The Partner Network is insufficiently orchestrated

THE CORE PERSPECTIVE | DYNAMIC, CONNECTED BUSINESS

The Causeway Re-set

It is essential principle of Causeway to view the business as a dynamic connected system that needs to be designed, controlled and operated in harmony, to avoid the common shortfalls.

With this principle in mind, Causeway prompts a re-configuration in the way of management of change, simply summarised as:

‘Vision, Engage, Connection, Viability, Priority’

The Vision is the start point for several solution concepts. Engagement with prototypes and trials is an essential risk management tactic. Each concept is assessed with Engage feedback and then on the basis of a Connected and Viable Design.

Build is prioritised to get a ‘Core Offer to Market’ to embed the change in the business.

CAUSEWAY | A FIRM PATH

Complexity

Change programs are not easy to lead, co-ordinate and deliver. The need is a toolkit to manage and lead Design and Build in situations of:

• High Risk

• High Interdependency

• High Investment

• High Commitment

• High Knowledge intensity

In the Business Change Leader’s toolkit, there is a gap between Strategic Vision tools and Program Control methods, to manage the challenge of complexity.

The currently available toolset is relevant, but it is insufficient. The established Business Model lists the components of a concept, the Customer Journey has merit in focusing on the customer’s requirements, Agile working creates a low-level set of user stories for software build.

Design for the Dynamics of Business

None design and build a coherent, Viable Business Architecture. None provide a unifying framework to build a highly connected business; a business in which all departments transact to the same policies and rules and that is a business structured for the dynamics of sales, demand, service, and product portfolio change across the product lifecycle.

High Risk, High Interdependence, High Connection

Causeway Business Design and Build provides the firm pathway from a Connected Business Architecture, bring attention to:

• Engage and Trial in areas of uncertainty

• Embed the policies, rules and controls that will dynamically connect the Customer, Market, Supply Chain, Operations, Data Systems and Finances

• Co-ordinate a Network of Business Partners

• X-check that the Architecture is Aligned and Viable. Reconfigure until it is fully connected

• Prioritise and Build Modular Assets founded on a Connected Design

THE NINE MAXIMS OF CAUSEWAY

Causeway has nine maxims to lead a mindset of risk management and high-paced delivery in Business Transformation.

1. Build a Connected Business

This expresses the rationale behind Causeway.

To establish a shared goal of designing and building an Architecture that is fully aligned, to deliver to market what the Customer will buy, Market Revenue will justify, and without Unwarranted Costs.

2. Recognise Business Risks

Make market and operational risks explicit for all to see, to minimise the risk of market failure.

3. Frontload Business Scenarios

Build the connections across the Business that will lead to a stable, viable business change, using Scenario Walkthroughs.

4. Engage and Trial

Investigate all the risks identified, validate Customers’ alternatives, trial uncertain operational solutions, confirm partner exchanges.

5. Build Partner Alliances

Ensure capability, capacity and commitment of partners.

6. Collate Supply Chain and Operations Design Data

Establish the common, core set of data that the Design Team need to assemble for the Operational Design and Build.

7. Embed Business Rules and Controls

Agree the ruleset that all business sections will work to and the controls to monitor status and performance.

8. Cross-Check and Configure

Check the proposed Architecture against Four Alignments and Five Viability Criteria. Configure the Target Business Architecture.

9.

Build Modular Assets

To shift the dial from ‘whole system, one date’ delivery, to interim deliveries of components and sub-assemblies. To go to market with a Core Offer.

Maxims Two to Nine

Maxims Two to Nine are good working practices to establish the goal of Maxim One.

THE TARGET BUSINESS ARCHITECTURE

ALIGNED AND VIABLE

A Business Model is a schematic view of how a business will engage with a market.

The Business Architecture is the structure of how the Business Model is realised and executed. The Market and Operations Architectures are connected by the Business Connectors of: Demand; Policies, Rules, and Controls: The Financial Profile.

Causeway leads designers and builders through walkthroughs to deliver a Viable Business to market.

Throughout the Program there should be constant review of the degree of Connection of a new Architecture Design. The nine checks below – expanded in the Workbook – are constantly available hooks to set aside the least promising of concepts and designs.

The Aligned and Viable Pyramid is an essential validation in Maxim Eight, ‘X-check and Configure’ .

AN ACTIONABLE TOOLKIT

The Nine Maxims are expanded into a comprehensive toolkit for the program designers and builders, as illustrated here.

It is almost universal that business staff are siloed in their functions, i.e., they are trained in the tools, work in the language of and are assessed by success metrics of their discipline.

Yet a Connected, Viable Business Architecture needs an ‘unSiloed’ approach, with a common Design and Build language.

Causeway provides the shared language for teams from across the business to work together and ‘unSilo the Business Architecture’.

Causeway Overview 4.1 27/02/2024

PROGRAM WORKFLOW

Causeway is distinguished by driving rational business decisions on what to build and what to take to market. The maxims, tools, and techniques, however, need organisation into a change program.

In this schematic schedule illustration, the early work is establishing alternative solutions to the drivers of business change and considering the risks and challenges involved.

Engage and Trial explores those risks, areas of uncertainty and need to prove working assumptions. Development work on foundation assets, from housekeeping to complex modules, is initiated early.

Scenario Walkthroughs will drive a middle section of design and configuration. A first cut view of the Operating Architecture will be needed to engage Supply Chain and Logistics suppliers and partners.

The walkthroughs confirm the business controls and rules that will connect the cross-organization Architecture Design. The agreement of controls and rules is critical ‘feedstock’ input to productive use of Agile software build. The configuration work should focus on setting aside high cost, low value concept elements. Identifying a Core to Market Product will reduce the workstack to be developed.

In the software workstream establishing a Core workstack and working with agreed controls and rules will bring early clarity to design decisions and so notably improve build control.

WHO IN BUSINESS WILL BENEFIT

Causeway is for the Business Leader who needs a practical toolkit for Business Transformation change.

It assists in four ways:

• For the CEO, a template on how to ‘unSilo’ and organize teams, structure tasks and to manage business risk.

• For the CFO, to provide checks and balances to validate business change that is high-risk on all fronts

• For the Program Leader, to set out good working practices, how to phase them into a program workflow and provide checklists to examine the reality of reported progress.

• For the Build and Delivery Teams, clear guidance on what demand, rules, and financial goals to build to.

TO EXPLORE FURTHER

To discuss the Causeway Framework further and its use, please contact thirdcoastas@gmail.com

Presentations, Training, Mentoring and Program Review services are available.

David Battye, Third Coast Business Consulting AS