I have set up business design functions in several different contexts.
Business design applies a design mindset to core organisational decisions, not just products or services. It looks across people, process and technology to ensure that what an organisation plans to build is desirable to users, viable in the market and aligned with strategy. It provides a structured way to connect ideas to delivery and reduce the risk of costly misalignment.
It also exposes capability gaps and shows where investment, for example in agile delivery, is needed to deliver the strategy.
In government, this has often meant aligning policy intent, operational delivery and digital capability behind a coherent operating model.
I am particularly interested in applying business design to complex, large-scale portfolios that have become fragmented or misaligned.
Selected articles #
How we’re building our Business Design skills at DWP, DWP Digital blog, 13 November 2014
What makes a great Business Designer?, DWP Digital blog, 10 December 2014
Business Design for an Agile world, Medium, 27 January 2015
How car washing helps explain Business Design, Medium, 16 April 2015
Our DWP Business Design work during the last parliament: a retrospective, Medium, 11 May 2015
How we’re keeping DWP’s business transformation on track, DWP Digital blog, 15 December 2015