The Execution Challenge

Chapter 3The Strategic Business Architecture Toolkit

There is no perspective or set of views quite like strategic business architecture. Countless views exist, but they often represent just a single aspect or fragment of an organization. What makes strategic business architecture unique and invaluable is its holistic and multidimensional view of an entire organization.

There is tremendous power and efficiency in shared mental models. Imagine if we did not have a map of the world. How difficult would it be to plan a trip without understanding where you are, where you are going, or the best way to get there? Imagine if we did not have blueprints for buildings. How difficult would it be to communicate a common vision of what we are building or remodeling and activate all the workers in a coordinated way to achieve it?

Strategic business architecture is the shared mental model for an entire organization. It describes what an organization does and how it is structured to deliver value to its customers and support its operations. From a strategy and transformation perspective, it informs where an organization is today, where it is going in the future, and how it will get there. Strategic business architecture also provides a framework for macro-level design and redesign.

Beyond this, though, strategic business architecture facilitates a shift in mindsets and behaviors as people use it over time. Its holistic nature encourages people to think about the big picture, to focus on the ...