PRIMER 2025 RELEASED!

Whatever you say about AI, people are learning machines.

We've learned much over the last couple of years of discovering Org Topologies! And our newly released Primer accumulates this knowledge in condensed and illustrated 29 pages.

We're happy to present our third co-author, Craig Larman — who doesn't need an introduction really — a source of profound wisdom on organizational change. It is worth noting that Craig started his career in the late 1970s as a software developer in APL, Lisp, Prolog, and Smalltalk and joined the movement in the 1990s, being exposed to Extreme Programming and Scrum.

LANGUAGE OF ORG DESIGN

Org Topologies introduces this simple but powerful language to clarify organizational development without resorting to “agile” or other framework-specific jargon.

This makes it easier to see things as they are, bringing together specialists from different backgrounds and facilitating open, unambiguous discussions about the current situation and the next steps.

More can be learned from the Primer

MIRO TEMPLATE UPDATED

We have created a free Miro template containing the essentials and empty maps to get you started with Org Topologies Mapping.

THREE ORG TOPOLOGIES

One big idea of Org Topologies: there are three common topologies that are easy to recognize. Each of them is fit for a different purpose:

1. The Resource Topology—a topology characterized by frozen functional archetypes specialized in one domain. Its purpose is to ensure that each unit is 100% utilized (i.e. resource utilization). It is seen in “resource management” approaches where “resource managers” (or project managers) are responsible for planning and monitoring resource allocation and utilization ?
2. The Delivery Topology, compared to the Resource Topology, upgrades delivery units to have fast flow by removing dependencies. Structurally, this typically involves forming complete cross-functional teams, and facilitating a smoother path to “completely done” work. In some domains, this topology is called a “Feature Factory” since Delivery units can provide a near-endless stream of features. Note a strong focus on outputs and local efficiency. ?
3. The Adaptive Topology merges “directing, doing, and delivering” into one holistic unit within the Driving archetypes, where humans, AI agents, and robots collaborate on complex problems in an adaptive way, and the group explores and drives themselves in their ‘car’. The goal of this topology is adaptiveness (easy, cheap change based on learning) and customer-centricity to discover and deliver customer delight.

There are four pages in the Primer dedicated to the topologies.

MADE METHOD

The Change MADE Real method of Org Topologies for strategic org design unfolds in four distinct steps:

1. Map the ecosystem “as is”.
2. Assess the ecosystem “as is”.
3. Design the ecosystem “to be”.
4. Elevate the ecosystem from “as is” toward “to be”.

The Assessment and Mapping techniques allow seeing the inevitable paradigm shifts an organization needs to adopt on its path toward the chosen perfection vision. Such a method empowers change agents with a simple visual way to map the current conditions and agree on a path to the target state.

?Designing and Elevating entails exploring options for org designs that are more fit for purpose, and implementing them. Moving the organization towards the chosen path is enabled by Elevating Katas? — a set of principles, guides, and experiments to be studied and applied within the org context to get change going.

Each step is detailed in the Primer and with examples.

LEARN LIVE IN 60 MINUTES

Join one of us for a packed 60-minute webinar to learn about the core ideas behind Org Topologies.

Yours, Alexey, Craig and Roland.