Pieter van Langen

Feb

2020

How to determine objectives for capability development: 3 easy steps

An organization deploys capabilities to execute its activities. Some of these capabilities are critical to survive and thrive. In three easy steps, you can determine objectives to steer the development of critical capabilities in your organization.

Steps to determine objectives

Determine objectives for developing a particular capability in your organization as follows:

Identify the advantage the capability would bring.
Determine the direction for developing the capability.
Set the priority of developing the capability.

Advantage

To identify the advantage that a particular capability would bring to your organization, you can perform a VRIO analysis to determine four relevant properties of the capability:

Valuable: able to tackle opportunities and threats.
Rare: scarce and difficult to obtain.
Inimitable: hard to mimic.
Organized: able to take full advantage of resources.

You can use the outcomes of the VRIO analysis as follows to identify the advantage a particular capability brings:

VRIO decision table to derive competitive advantage. — VRIO decision table to derive the competitive advantage of a specific capability.

Direction

Determine a course of action for developing a particular capability in your organization as follows:

If it brings a disadvantage, then disinvest to make room for another capability.
If it brings an equal advantage, then specialize so it will be rare.
If it brings a temporary advantage, then merge with other capabilities so it will be inimitable.
If it brings an unused advantage, then secure in your organization design so it will be organized.
If it brings a strategic advantage, then maintain in your organization so it will sustain.

Priority

There are several ways to prioritize activities. What way is best depends on your way of working. When pursuing Agile, set a situational priority for developing a particular capability as follows:

Now: do this activity first.
Next: do this activity directly after the first.
Later: do this activity after the next.

Feb

2020

Tunnel design

Sector: Private

Industry: Construction

Domain: Tunnels

Improve tunnel design: Preparation

Describe

Organization. The design and construction of a tunnel involves a team of designers from seven different disciplines. In a tunnel engineering project, they produce seven partial designs of a tunnel, one for each discipline, together forming an integral design. When they find alignment conflicts in the integral design, they resolve them by modifying their partial designs.

Environmental factors. A tunnel engineering project is a tender project. In the preparation phase, the information needed for design is limited. During execution, time and money are limited.

Challenge. The more alignment conflicts in an integral tunnel design, the more effort, time, and money it takes to resolve them.

Formulate

Goal. Increase performance of the team.

Objective. Minimize the number of alignment conflicts in an integral tunnel design.

Benefit. Less development costs.

Estimate

Worthwhile.

Improve tunnel design: Execution

Identify

Inventory

Prepare a tunnel design
- Manage a meta-model of construction designs
- Manage a repository of construction designs
Produce a tunnel design
- Produce a partial tunnel design
- Combine partial tunnel designs into an integral tunnel design

Discover

Produce a partial tunnel design
- Bound a partial tunnel design space by a set of partial tunnel designs
- Produce a partial tunnel design within a partial tunnel design space

Analyze

Classify

Knowledge:
- Bound a partial tunnel design space by a set of partial tunnel designs
Experience:
- Produce a partial tunnel design within a partial tunnel design space

Compare

Stakeholders needs:
- Bound a partial tunnel design space by a set of partial tunnel designs
- Produce a partial tunnel design within a partial tunnel design space

Assess

Equal advantage:
- Bound a partial tunnel design space by a set of partial tunnel designs
- Produce a partial tunnel design within a partial tunnel design space

Make

Acquire

System. Manage a meta-model of tunnel designs:
1. Develop an ontology of tunnel designs
2. Transform an ontology of tunnel designs into a meta-model of tunnel designs
System. Manage a repository of tunnel designs:
1. Develop a repository of tunnel designs
2. Implement a meta-model of tunnel designs in a repository of tunnel designs
System. Update the standard operating procedure for:
- Manage a meta-model of tunnel designs
- Manage a repository of tunnel designs
- Produce a tunnel design

Skills. Train staff in:
- Manage a meta-model of tunnel designs
- Manage a repository of tunnel designs
- Produce a tunnel design

Feb

2020

Plant redesign

Sector: Private

Industry: Servicing

Domain: Chemical plants

Improve plant redesign: Preparation

Describe

Organization. Redesign for renovation or expansion of a plant covers three stages. In the pre-sales stage, one designer is assigned internally to make a conceptual design. If the customer (i.e., the owner of the plant) shows interest, a small team of designers makes a basic design in the sales stage. If the customer accepts the basic design and places an order, a larger team of designers makes a detailed design in the fulfilment stage.

Redesign offers room for innovation. An investment in renovation or expansion is relatively limited and the customer can then take more risk than with new build, which is much more expensive. An innovation that works well in renovation or expansion can then be introduced as proven technology in new build. Deliberate innovation in renovation or expansion therefore provides a competitive advantage in new build.

Environmental factors. Competition with other companies.

Challenge. In practice, the principal designer is the only one who has mastered the pre-sales stage of redesign. Training designers in this stage is going too slow. Hiring is not an option since the expertise required is unique.

Formulate

Goal. Increase performance.

Objective. Reduce the dependency on the principal designer in the pre-sales stage of redesign.

Benefit. Larger revenue security.

Estimate

Worthwhile.

Improve plant redesign: Execution

Identify

Inventory

Budget the production of a conceptual plant design
- Retrieve the design production budget of a similar plant
- Reuse the design production budget of a similar plant
- Revise the design production budget for the plant in question
- Retain the design production budget for the plant in question
Derive requirements for the plant in question
- Appraise customer traits
- Infer trait-dependent requirements for the plant in question
Develop a design concept for the plant in question
- Create a concept
  - Create an apparatus
    - Create a conventional apparatus
    - Create an innovative apparatus
  - Create a flowline
  - Review an apparatus
  - Review a flowline
  - Update an apparatus
  - Update a flowline
  - Delete an apparatus
  - Delete a flowline
- Analyze properties of a concept
  - Collect properties of a concept
  - Presume properties of a concept
  - Derive properties of a concept
- Assess a concept
  - Explore a concept
  - Test a concept
    - Test the sensitivity of the performance of a concept
  - Evaluate a concept
    - Display commercial acumen when evaluating a concept

Analyze

Classify

Knowledge:
- Appraise customer traits
- Derive properties of a concept
- Test the sensitivity of the performance of a concept
Experience:
- Budget the production of a conceptual plant design
- Infer trait-dependent requirements for the plant in question
Intuition:
- Create an innovative apparatus
- Display commercial acumen when evaluating a concept

Compare

Reputation:
- Budget the production of a conceptual plant design
Stakeholder needs:
- Appraise customer traits
- Infer trait-dependent requirements for the plant in question
- Derive properties of a concept
- Test the sensitivity of the performance of a concept
- Display commercial acumen when evaluating a concept
Technology:
- Create an innovative apparatus

Assess

Equal advantage:
- Infer trait-dependent requirements for the plant in question
- Derive properties of a concept
- Test the sensitivity of the performance of a concept
Temporary advantage:
- Budget the production of a conceptual plant design
- Appraise customer traits
Unused advantage:
- Create an innovative apparatus
- Display commercial acumen when evaluating a concept

Make

Anchor

System. Include instructions in the standard operating procedure for:
- Derive requirements for the plant in question
  - Appraise customer traits
- Develop a design concept for the plant in question
  - Derive properties of a concept
  - Test the sensitivity of the performance of a concept
System. Elicit and include instructions in the standard operating procedure for:
- Budget the production of a conceptual plant design
- Derive requirements for the plant in question
  - Infer trait-dependent requirements for the plant in question
System. Circumscribe and/or illustrate and include preconditions in the standard operating procedure for:
- Develop a design concept for the plant in question
  - Creativity
- Evaluate a concept
  - Commercial acumen
Skills. Train the responsible manager in assessing designers on the capabilities mentioned in the preconditions of the standard operating procedure for:
- Develop a design concept for the plant in question
  - Creativity
- Evaluate a concept
  - Commercial acumen
Skills. Train designers who meet all preconditions in the standard operating procedure for:
- Develop a design concept for the plant in question
  - Creativity
- Evaluate a concept
  - Commercial acumen

Feb

2020

Aircraft design

Sector: Private

Industry: Manufacturing

Domain: Series aircraft

Improve aircraft design: Preparation

Describe

Organization. A team of designers is tasked to design an extended version of an aircraft. The team consists of senior designers and junior designers. When confronted with new design issues, junior designers tend to invent new solutions, whereas senior designers tend to develop solutions with a higher chance of regulatory compliance. The latter is a requirement for an aircraft to be allowed onto the market.

Environmental factors. Competition with other aircraft manufacturers.

Challenge. Less access to the capabilities of senior designers results in a lower chance of regulatory compliance.

Formulate

Goal. Increase business performance.

Objective. Increase access to capabilities of senior designers for designing an extended version of an aircraft faster.

Benefit. Shorter time to market.

Estimate

Worthwhile.

Improve aircraft design: Execution

Identify

Inventory

Produce a series aircraft design
- Retrieve the design rationale of a similar aircraft
- Reuse the design rationale of a similar aircraft
- Revise the design rationale for the new aircraft
- Retain the design rationale of the new aircraft

Analyze

Classify

Experience:
- Produce a series aircraft design

Compare

Organization strategy:
- Produce a series aircraft design

Assess

Temporary advantage:
- Produce a series aircraft design

Make

Anchor

System. Update the standard operating procedure for:
- Produce a series aircraft design
Skills. Train junior designers in:
- Produce a series aircraft design

Background research

Frances Brazier, Pieter van Langen, and Jan Treur (1997). A compositional approach to modelling design rationale. AIEDAM 11, 125-139.

Nov

2019

6 sorts of knowledge that determine the power of design

Designers continually develop knowledge with customers, commissioners, users, fellow designers, partners, and other stakeholders. They produce and use knowledge of different sorts. This post explains which sorts of knowledge a team needs to accomplish design work.

Sorts of knowledge

The way a team is organized rests on the following sorts of knowledge:

Strategy: the plan to accomplish design goals.
Structure: the way of organizing design work.
Systems: processes and procedures of design.
Style: the way designing is approached.
Specialisms: fields of specialization of designers.
Skills: talents and abilities of designers.
Shared values: accepted values, norms, and standards for designing.

These sorts almost entirely correspond with the seven internal factors in the McKinsey 7S Model. Other points of departure are conceivable, but the McKinsey 7S Model applies well in practice. Furthermore, many managers know this model. For a brief introduction to this model, see, for instance, Strategic Management Insight or Investopedia.

In practice, the two sorts Systems and Style can be hard or unnecessary to distinguish. For instance, a design team may consider style as the processes and procedures to which the team members are accustomed. In such cases, you may conveniently combine the two sorts into one sort, System.

Organizational design factors. — Organizational design: Sorts of knowledge that form the foundation of a team.

Framework for design knowledge

These sorts of knowledge and their interrelationships form a framework that can be used to:

Analyze a design activity.
Grow knowledge that is of interest to design work.
Make design knowledge part of a team’s DNA.

Nov

2019

Member of Ooa

Background

Ooa, the Dutch Order of organization experts and advisors, is the eldest professional association for consultants in the world. Ooa acts as a knowledge platform for members, organizing knowledge exchange between consultants and other professionals. In 1989, Ooa joined the International Council of Management Consultancy Institutes (ICMCI). See the website of Ooa for more information (in Dutch).

Member of Ooa

In November 2019, Pieter van Langen (founder and owner of Design Impulse) has become a member of Ooa. Through its membership, Design Impulse likes to express that our customers can always count on knowledgeable, professional, and challenging consultancy.

Oct

2019

Launch Design Impulse

Background

Organizations act in a complex world to achieve goals. The successful ones show change, creativity, and return. More often than not, design drives the success of these enterprises, companies, and institutions.

By investing in design, success can show itself in several ways; for instance:

Revenues and profit. Research has shown that design-driven companies generate revenues 20 times, profit 4 times, and export 5 times more (Design Council, 2012).
Return on value. Research has shown that design-driven companies produce a return twice as much as the Standard & Poor’s 500 index (Design Management Institute, 2015).
Organizational performance. Research has shown that design-driven companies grow twice as fast as the benchmark (McKinsey, 2018).

Launch Design Impulse

These insights led scientist and expert Pieter van Langen to launch Design Impulse. We are an independent Dutch management consulting firm specializing in design leadership consulting. Contact us to increase the power of design.