Model reference
The 17 failure mechanisms
Frozen at v1.0. A high assessment score means strong evidence that the mechanism is materially present. It does not mean the transformation must fail.
Human dimension
The prevailing culture inhibits the behaviours required for effective transformation, including collaboration, challenge, experimentation, transparency and learning from failure.
Hypothesis: Risk increases when organisational culture inhibits collaboration, challenge, experimentation or the open identification of problems and mistakes.
Leaders are managing, not leading. Absorbed in operational delivery, they stop providing direction, judgement and intervention.
Hypothesis: Risk increases when those responsible for leading the transformation become overly focused on operational management at the expense of strategic leadership.
The intended strategy and direction, priorities, scope or desired outcomes of the transformation are not clear enough or are interpreted inconsistently.
Hypothesis: Risk increases when ambiguity in strategy and direction, priorities, scope or desired outcomes causes inconsistent interpretation across the organisation.
Information does not move around the transformation with enough accuracy, relevance, speed or selectivity.
Hypothesis: Risk increases when communication is excessive, poorly targeted, distorted or too thin.
Whether the transformation has the required number, mix and levels of skills and experience in the geographic locations where they are needed.
Hypothesis: Risk increases when the organisation does not have the right number, the right mix or the right levels of skills and experience in the right geographic locations to execute the transformation.
Individuals, teams or functions are rewarded or assessed against objectives that conflict with transformation outcomes.
Hypothesis: Risk increases when incentives and objectives encourage local optimisation at the expense of transformation outcomes.
Organisational dimension
Organisational boundaries and structures create friction across the paths required to execute the transformation.
Hypothesis: Risk increases when organisational structures create barriers to the cross-functional collaboration required to execute the transformation.
Responsibility and decision authority are so distributed that ownership becomes ambiguous, and decisions become contradictory or slow.
Hypothesis: Risk increases when accountability and decision authority fragment across multiple individuals, functions or governance bodies.
The transformation has no sponsor senior, visible or active enough to remove barriers.
Hypothesis: Risk increases when senior executive sponsorship is not visible, authoritative or active enough to remove organisational barriers and maintain strategic alignment.
The ability and preparedness of the wider organisation both to participate in the transformation and to absorb its outputs successfully.
Hypothesis: Risk increases when the demands of the proposed change materially exceed the parent organisation's readiness to undertake or absorb it.
Delivery dimension
The number of distinct organisational areas, functions, processes, systems, stakeholder groups or capabilities materially affected by the transformation.
Hypothesis: Risk increases when more organisational areas are materially affected.
The degree of fundamental change demanded within the areas affected by the transformation.
Hypothesis: Risk increases when the change demanded within affected organisational areas becomes more fundamental.
Too many mutually dependent transformation activities are being executed simultaneously for the available coordination capacity.
Hypothesis: Risk increases disproportionately when concurrency and interdependency outrun the organisation's ability to coordinate them.
The elapsed time between making a material transformation assumption and obtaining credible evidence about whether it is correct.
Hypothesis: Risk increases when more time passes between making material assumptions and validating them.
The elapsed time between credible evidence emerging and the transformation changing its strategy, roadmap or actions in response.
Hypothesis: Risk increases when more time passes between material new evidence emerging and the response to it.
Governance costs more in delay and delivery capacity than the control it buys.
Hypothesis: Risk increases when the cost, delay and delivery capacity consumed by governance exceed the risk reduction and control it provides.
Delivered transformation outputs cannot be successfully adopted, operated or incorporated by the wider organisation.
Hypothesis: Risk increases when insufficient attention is paid to how successful transformation outputs will be integrated into and absorbed by the parent organisation.