KEI&S

M09DiagnoseDiagnosis· Module 4

Diagnosing the Operating Model

Problems rarely sit in one department. They sit where functions, owners, rules, processes and tools fail to connect.

  • Fix
  • Manage
  • Scale
  • Strategy
  • Operations
  • Governance
  • ~5 min · Diagnostic

The business problem

Businesses are usually diagnosed department by department: sales is weak, finance is slow. Real failures happen across the joins — between sales and delivery, between delivery and billing — and in the layers underneath: who owns the work, what the rules are, how it is done, what tools support it and how it is reviewed.

Why it matters

A structured view of the whole operating model shows where control is lost and which few gaps cause most of the trouble. It prevents expensive fixes in the wrong place.

What you will learn

  1. Describe a business as six functions across five operating layers
  2. Locate problems in specific cells rather than departments
  3. See how a gap in one cell creates symptoms in others
  4. Prioritise the cells that matter most

Core questions

  1. For each function, who owns it and what are its rules?
  2. Where do handovers between functions fail?
  3. Which layer — owner, rules, process, technology or rhythm — is weakest?
  4. Which three cells would change the business most?

Work through the module

CaseWhat is happening?

Travel company, 15 people · Illustrative teaching case

A travel company believes it has a sales problem. Mapping the operating model shows that marketing produces enquiries, but the customer process — how enquiries are received, owned and followed up — has no owner, no rules and no review. Consultants each work in their own way, and customer history leaves when they do.

Full teaching case: WhatsApp Is the CRM

DecisionWhat does the leader need to decide?

Invest in more marketing, or fix the customer process that loses the enquiries already coming in?

FrameworkHow should they think about the problem?

The KEI&S Operating Model

Six business functions — Market, Customer, Delivery, Money, People and Intelligence — each run on five layers: Ownership, Rules, Process, Technology and Management Rhythm. The 30 cells describe what must be designed for a business to run with control.

ToolWhat can they use?

Business Health DiagnosticDiagnostic

  1. Score each of the 30 cells honestly
  2. Identify the three weakest layers across functions
  3. Mark cells that produce symptoms in other functions
  4. Choose the priority cells for the next quarter
ApplicationHow does it apply to their business?

Apply it to your own business:

  1. Complete the Business Health Diagnostic with one or two managers
  2. Compare your scores and discuss where you disagree
  3. Agree three priority cells
ImplementationWhat changes?

What should change in the business:

  1. Assign an owner to each priority cell
  2. Define what 'designed' means for each: rule, process, tool and review
  3. Schedule a re-score in 90 days
ReviewDid it work?

How to tell whether the change worked:

  1. Have the priority cells improved on re-score?
  2. Have the symptoms linked to them reduced?
  3. Is the management team using the model's language to discuss problems?

After this module you should be able to decide

Invest in more marketing, or fix the customer process that loses the enquiries already coming in?

And leave with: Your business mapped on the KEI&S Operating Model.

Next step

Start with what is actually happening.

Tell us what is happening in your business. We will help identify the appropriate next step.

Start With Your ProblemTake the Business Diagnostic
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