Model accountabilities before drawing organizations.
The method treats an operating model as a set of functions, mandates, decisions and interfaces—not an org chart with cloud labels.
Start with a pattern
Use a reference model or archetype to avoid a blank-page exercise. Treat it as a hypothesis.
Define the mandate
State purpose, scope, decisions and explicit exclusions for every included function.
Connect the model
Represent handoffs, authority referrals, feedback and retained accountability as directed interfaces.
Allocate ownership
Name accountable and delivery owners; distinguish internal, shared, provider and product-team execution.
Challenge coherence
Test for missing ownership, contradictory mandates and ungoverned handoffs. Deterministic rules remain distinct from advice.
Export and govern
Generate editable material with a version trail, then validate it with the people who own the decisions.
Interpretation guardrails
Vendor-neutral: functions describe required accountabilities, not a provider product catalogue.
Explainable: a rule or recommendation should expose the evidence that produced it.
Context-dependent: patterns are configurable and require practitioner judgment.
Versioned: projects retain the reference-content version used at creation.