mybusinessarchitect
Resources
Pillar guides, research reports, worked case studies, and free templates — organised by what they are, filterable by where they sit in the Design4 cycle.
Pillar GuideWhat Is Business Architecture? A Complete Guide
Most organisations can feel the gap between strategy and execution but can't name it. Business architecture is the discipline that names it and closes it.
Pillar GuideThe Business Architect: What the Role Is, What It Isn't, and What It's Becoming
The business architect is one of the most misunderstood roles in the enterprise. Here's what it actually exists to do, how it's evolved, and what distinguishes senior practice.
Pillar GuideBusiness Architecture Framework: A Practical Guide to the Design4 Approach
A practical business architecture framework for closing the strategy-execution gap. Learn the Design4 approach.
Pillar GuideOrganizational Purpose Is Discovered, Not Invented
Organizational purpose is recovered from what you have already done, not drafted in a workshop. The Receipts Test tells a held purpose from a wall plaque.
Pillar GuideStrategy to Execution: How to Close the Gap
Why most strategies fall short in execution and a practical framework for closing the gap.
Pillar GuideStrategy Choice Cascade: The Complete Guide to Making Strategy Real
The strategy choice cascade explained: five integrated choices that replace wish-list strategies with real commitments.
Pillar GuideCapability Maturity and the Maturity Theatre Problem
Your maturity assessment scored every capability. It can't tell you which score is a problem. Required maturity comes from strategy, not the model.
Pillar GuideOperating Model Examples: Why the Service Model Beats the Org Chart
Five worked operating model examples and a target operating model (TOM) template. Why the service model beats the org chart at turning strategy into outcomes.
Pillar GuideIs Anyone Better Off?
A performance measurement framework tells you whether the work got done. Almost none tells you whether anyone is better off. The difference is fixable.
Pillar GuideWhy Strategic Planning Is Structurally Obsolete
Strategic planning isn't failing because of poor execution. It's failing because it was designed for a world that no longer exists. Here's the structural case and what replaces it.
Pillar GuideOKRs Are Not a Strategy: What the Framework Gets Right, What It Misses, and Where Business Architecture Fits
OKRs fail not from poor implementation but because the strategic middle is missing. Business architecture supplies what OKRs assume you already built.
Pillar GuidePortfolio Theatre: A Project Prioritization Framework Built on Capability Contribution
Most project prioritization frameworks rank value versus effort. Prioritize your portfolio by capability contribution, so your strategy actually shows up.
Pillar GuideThe Trust Protocol: Why Correct Architecture Gets Rejected
Correct architecture gets rejected not because the analysis is wrong, but because trust was never designed. The Trust Protocol is the missing layer.
Pillar GuideBenefits Realization and the Measurement Theatre Problem
Your dashboard shows deliverable completion. Your board asked what value is being delivered. Not the same question, and more measurement won't close the gap.
Pillar GuideBuilding a Higher Education Data Architecture That Actually Works
Most universities invest in analytics before the data foundation is ready. Learn the four layers your institution needs and diagnose which one to fix first.
ReportThe State of Business Capability Modelling: What the Market Sells, Shows, and Actually Buys
The market sells a management discipline and buys a drawing: findings from 99 coded job postings, 11 tool vendors, and 20 public reference models on how business capability modelling is actually used.
ReportDoes Your Purpose Account for What You Actually Did? Findings from 28 organisations put to the Receipts Test
Twenty-eight organisations put to the Receipts Test: would the stated purpose have told them which way to go, and did they go that way? Three receipts, six near-misses, ten purposes that could not account for the costliest decision on the record.
ReportWhat the Business Architect Role Actually Is: Findings from 161 Verified Job Postings
Every finding in this report comes from individually reading and coding 161 recent Business Architect postings worldwide, compared against a 94-posting control sample across six adjacent roles.
The Service Operating Model Canvas
A free one-page operating model template. Map capabilities, services, outputs, and outcomes, then pressure-test a redesign before touching the org chart.
Capability-Contribution Scoring Template
A free one-page template to prioritize your project portfolio by capability contribution instead of value versus effort, so your strategy shows up.
The Maturity Contour Worksheet
A free worksheet for deriving required capability maturity from strategic choices — the three numbers a heat map leaves out: current, required, validated.
Gap Guides
The Four Strategy-to-Execution Gaps
Each gap describes a specific breakdown between the four layers of a functioning organisation. Identify yours, then follow the resources to close it.
The Purpose–Strategy Gap
When purpose is clear but strategic choices are absent — and the organisation pursues everything at once.
Explore this gap Commitment without capacityThe Strategy–Capability Gap
When the strategy is defined but the capabilities required to execute it don't exist or aren't developed.
Explore this gap Potential without deliveryThe Capability–Operations Gap
When capabilities exist on paper but operational delivery doesn't reflect them in practice.
Explore this gap Activity without impactThe Operations–Purpose Gap
When operations run efficiently but outputs no longer connect to the organisation's original purpose.
Explore this gapReference
Business Architecture Glossary
Plain-language definitions of key business architecture terms, frameworks, and concepts.