Strategies for Organization Design

11Purpose and Utility

“All models are wrong, but some are useful.”

—G.E.P. Box, “Robustness in the Strategy of Scientific Model Building” (1979)

How does all of this work in the real professional world? Are these merely abstract thoughts or can we achieve concrete solutions by implementing the Peopletecture Model?

In my experience, two macro‐level choices must be made in any organizational form that will lead to the plethora of architectural decisions that ultimately create a great organization:

1. What is the purpose of your organization? Why does it exist? Whom does it help? What is it all about?
2. What use will your organization's customers or clients derive from your product or service? What makes your organization's offerings unique? Why will people choose your business over your competitors’?

Figure 11.1 Purpose, utility, and architecture and how they interrelate.

Source: Tiffany McDowell

When these questions are answered clearly, there is a relatively straightforward path with regard to architecture. This means that those who build the organization's vertical and parallel structures should understand how to proceed to maximize the overall opportunity for growth and advancement.

To use an everyday example, when building a house, the purpose of the dwelling defines what value the user will derive, which tells the architect what to design. Ultimately, this translates ...