Tailoring Guidelines

Keep it simple, tailor where it matters

The standard set of building blocks provides a solid starting point for any operating model. Tailoring is necessary to reflect the unique needs of your organisation, but it should be done with care:

Keep it simple: Stay as close as possible to the standard. Only change or extend a building block if there is a clear reason and added value.
Maintain consistency: Ensure all building blocks remain aligned. A change in one block often has implications for others.
Adopt an agile mindset: Treat tailoring as an iterative process. Make small changes, test them in practice, learn from the results, and only then deploy broadly.
Integrate with change management: Tailoring is not just a design exercise; it impacts people and ways of working. Consider communication, training, and support alongside design choices.

The detailed deployment of changes is covered in the section Implement & Evolve, which explains how to bring these tailored elements into daily practice and keep the operating model alive over time.

Who is doing the tailoring?

Tailoring decisions should be guided and approved by the Design Authority to safeguard coherence and adherence to principles.

At the same time, involve people with deep knowledge of the area being tailored. They not only provide valuable expertise, but can also act as ambassadors during testing and deployment, helping others adopt the change.

Approach for tailoring

Tailoring an operating model is best done with structured, collaborative methods of working that balance creativity with system-wide consistency:

Systems Mapping: Visualise how organisation, processes, and systems interconnect to identify impacts of tailoring decisions.
Scenario Workshops: Explore different design options and their consequences before making decisions.
Collaborative Design Sessions: Bring together building block owners, subject matter experts, and ambassadors to co-create solutions.
Experimentation & Feedback Loops: Pilot small changes, measure their effects, and refine before scaling across the organisation.