Organizational topology

Analysis and design of an organizational structure that is aligned with the value stream and balanced with the demand

The way how you laid out the organization structure defines your business performance. The limitation of the human ability to build and interact through social networks[1] and handle different cognitive loads [2] are well-known foundations for the organizational topology method [3]. We enrich such a method with the consideration of the fundamental laws of the socio-technical system evolution defined in the theory of innovative problem-solving [4] and rules of software system evolution [5] as well as Conway law [6].

 

We help you refine and tune the organizational construct to accelerate value delivery. These are some of the most important questions we can answer. 

  • What blend of knowledge and skills are essential to creating an effective cross-functional team capable of producing a value increment? 
  • How elastic are these skills to distribute among other team members? 
  • How to balance the headcount given your current organization's skills distribution, required for value stream structure, and throughput and performance?
  • How to transit from an existing project-based paradigm to a product-based delivery model?

 

  1. Dunbar, Robin IM. "Neocortex size as a constraint on group size in primates." Journal of human evolution 22.6 (1992): 469-493.
  2. Sweller, John. "Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning." Cognitive science 12.2 (1988): 257-285.Porter, Michael E. "The five competitive forces that shape strategy." Harvard business review 86.1 (2008): 25-40.
  3. Skelton, Matthew, and Manuel Pais. Team topologies: organizing business and technology teams for fast flow. It Revolution, 2019.
  4. Petrov, Vladimir. TRIZ. Theory of inventive problem solving. Springer International Publishing, 2019.
  5. Lehman, Manny M. "Laws of software evolution revisited." European Workshop on Software Process Technology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 1996.
  6. MacCormack, Alan, Carliss Baldwin, and John Rusnak. "Exploring the duality between product and organizational architectures: A test of the “mirroring” hypothesis." Research Policy 41.8 (2012): 1309-1324.