This is a chapter from the EDGY Cookbook (load complete PDF version of the EDGY Cookbook from this link).
Identity
Identity defines what is going on in and around the enterprise [3][4]. It defines what is the mission and purpose of the enterprise, what is the story and what are the goals, and beliefs and values. Identity motivates people and drives the enterprise and all its change activities. Identity defines the fundamental, crucial, reason for being.
Identity is covering existential matters and questions: why something exists, where it comes from, where it is now, and where it is going. Identity covers the past, the present and the future of the enterprise.
The values and beliefs enterprises exhibit through their messages and actions.
Identity covers existential matters and questions related to an enterprise: why something exist in the first place, where it comes from, where it is now, and where it is going? Why we do what we do? Identity defines the purpose of an entity, whether it is an enterprise or any part of it. Identity drivers the enterprise. Identity covers the past, the present and the future of an entity. Every entity has an identity, or identification, characteristics of the purpose, and reason for being. Person, organisation, system, product etc. Identity comes to life in culture. The icon, the thought bubble, referes ro what people are having their heads.
Enterprise Design
The Enterprise Design is a holistic, coherent, and human-centric approach for designing better enterprises. Enterprise Design utilizes the EDGY language to enable collaboration between disciplines, leverages on collaboration and encourages to co-design.
The Enterprise Design approach is based three facets: 1) identity, 2) experience and 3) architecture, together with their intersections: a) organisation, b) brand and c) product. All these facets and their intersections exist in typical enterprises, no matter the size or scope. These facets and intersections form the Facet Model, which can be used for asking questions for designing and reframing all kinds of design challenges. The Facet Model can be used as an analysis tool to shift perspectives and reframe challenges into new ideas – from different angles.
As a holistic, coherent, human-centric and collaborative approach, the Enterprise Design tackles the following problems: isolated design disciplines, diverse methods and separated tools, different terminologies, different visualisation languages, lack of communication over practices and organisation units, different substance- and subject matter experts etc.
The Enterprise Design enables people in enterprises to collaborate, communicate and create shared designs, in all the change activities and business transformations, no matter of the scale or size of those efforts, for making better decisions – for creating better enterprises.
Enterprise Design facilitates the holistic co-design of enterprises through three coherent facets: identity, experience and architecture.
Identity Examples
Identity:
- “The values and beliefs enterprises exhibit through their messages and actions.” [3]
- Identity is concretised in the purpose.
- Identity refers to mission, vision, strategy and goals of an enterprise.
- Identity answers to fundamental WHY questions of an enterprise:
- Why does our enterprise exist? Why is our behavior / business meaningful?
- Why we do what we do?
- What matters to us?
- What is our purpose? What is our mission? What is our vision?
- What is our strategy? What are our goals?
- What we make and offer? What is our story? Who are we?
- Identity can be modelled with the EDGY elements Purpose, Content, Story, Brand and Organisation.
In the enterprise context, identity refers to the unique characteristics, values, mission, vision, culture, and overall brand that define an organisation. It is the essence of what the enterprise stands for, what it aims to achieve, and how it is perceived both internally by employees and externally by customers, partners, and the broader market.
Key elements of an enterprise’s identity include:
- Mission: The purpose of the organisation – why it exists and what it aims to accomplish.
- Vision: The long-term goals or aspirations that guide the enterprise’s strategic direction.
- Values: The core beliefs and ideals that drive decision-making and behavior within the organisation. They reflect what the organisation stands for and what it prioritizes in its operations and interactions. Values represent heaviliy the WHY.
- Principles: The specific guidelines or rules that direct how the organisation operates in practice. They are derived from the organisation’s values and provide more concrete instructions on how to act in various situations. Principles represent the HOW, as they operationalises values in daily practices. They translate values into actionable standards, expectations, and finally into change requirements.
- Culture: The shared attitudes, practices, and norms that shape how people within the organisation interact and work together.
- Brand: The perception of the organisation, shaped by how it presents itself to external customers, the market, and the public.
An enterprise’s identity is crucial because it influences how stakeholders (employees, customers, partners, etc.) perceive and engage with the organisation. It also plays a key role in guiding strategic decisions, maintaining consistency in messaging and actions, and building trust and loyalty among stakeholders.
Identity reflect what the organisation stands for and what it prioritizes in its operations and interactions.
Identity View
The identity of an enterprise can be simplified with the elements shown below.
Identity expresses why an endeavour or entity (such as an enterprise, organisation or an unit) exists. Identity refers to the existential question of why. Identity defines why something is important, why we should care about it, and why it exists in the first place.
Identity elements can be used for analysing the reasons why, all the existential and deeper questions to clarify what actually matters.
With identity elements (purpose, story and content) and related intersection elements (brand and organisation), it is possible to focus on both of these aspects:
- people, and describe the message around people’s purpose and reason for being, or
- behavior, the business reason of activities that people do.
Identity clarifies all that is important to understand ‘why we do what we do’. The identity can be co-designed by people who are involved, by using these elements shown below. The example below starts with the topic, and the brand of the subject matter (e.g. entity, change initiative etc.). Then its purpose *) is introduced with the story and content. And finally, the organisation involved is introduced. These elements reflect the identity perspective and its intersections. Note that the people dimension is strongly emphasised in sentences: “we are, we exist, we do” etc., as the Enterprise Design approach is especially people-centric.
*) Purpose essentials – the fundamental questions. Naïve question goes ‘what is the meaning of life’. This philosophical question cannot be answered with rational, scientific method-based arguments, as the question is absurd. We cannot define what is the deepest meaning or purpose of existence itself (an sich), or what is the intrinsic value of life. Or in a cosmological perspective, ‘why the cosmos bothers to exist at all in the first place’, is something that we don’t know. What we can do, instead, is to clarify the purpose of an entity such as an enterprise. We can state a purposeful meaning by using the Facet Model Identity elements as tools. It is possible to define and visualize what is important in the context of an enterprise.
Identity view use cases are e.g. as follows:
- Identity and purpose of an entity or its part (e.g. enterprise, ecosystem, organisation, business unit, group, team).
- Identity and purpose of a group of people working together.
- Purpose and idea behind a change activity or -initiative (e.g. business transformation, concept, innovation etc.)
Identity clarifies “‘why we do what we do’.
Enterprise Analysis Levels
Enterprise and its behavior can be analysed in different levels from purpose to operations.
- The identity, the purpose, forms the basic idea of the business in which an enterprise operates: the mission and vision.
- The strategy level defines the goals and actions to be taken towards the vision.
- The business model defines how the enterprise creates value, what are the value propositions and to whom enterprise provides its products and/or services – who and what are the customers (people and/ or organisations).
- The operating model defines how the enterprise operates: what are the capabilities required for creating and delivering the offerings (products and/or services), with which processes and assets business is running.
Operational business (business operations) is defined by the operating model. Operating model defines how an enterprise is operates daily-basis. The operating model is derived from the business model, that is higher level representation of how an enterprise creates value.
Mission, Vision, Values, Strategy
The enterprises’s mission, vision and values can be expressed, in written format or in visualisation. However, it should be considered if the identity visualization, as illustrated in the previous figure above, can be adequate enough. It can be the most appropriate way to communicate the enterprise’s purpose, mission, and future vision and related values within a single visualization, what we can call simply the ‘identity’. The identity covers all that is important and meaningful in the context of an enterprise: mission, vision, values etc.
The purpose of a business of an enterprise is to create products or services that address customer needs, deliver value, and contribute and support long-term goals. Mission and vision both relate to an organisation’s purpose. They are typically communicated in some written form.
- Mission statement communicates the organisation’s reason for being. Mission answers questions about ‘why we exist’. The mission statement is about what the enterprise does today and how it fulfills its core purpose. It focuses on the present.
- Vision statement, in contrast, is a future-oriented declaration of the organisation’s long-term aspirations. Vision is based on the mission. Vision answers questions about ‘where are we going’, ‘where do we want to be’, and ‘what we want to become’. The vision statement describes what the enterprise wants to achieve in the future.
- Strategy refers to the long-term plan or approach that an enterprise adopts to achieve its goals, and fulfill its mission and vision. It involves making choices about where, when, and how to allocate resources, and with which capabilities. Strategy answers questions about ‘how we will achieve our vision’. As such, the mission and vision together guide the enterprise’s strategy, decision-making, and direction.
Mission defines why the enterprise exists. It is broad and foundational by nature.
Mission defines the enterprise’s core purpose – why it exists and what it aims to achieve.
Vision defines where the enterprise wants to go. It is aspirational and inspirational.
Vision describes the enterprise’s aspirational future – what it hopes achieve in the long term.
Strategy defines how the enterprise fulfills its mission and achieves its goals toward the vision. It is actionable and directional.
Strategy is the plan of action or roadmap that outlines how the enterprise will achieve its vision and fulfill its mission.
Mission and vision define the destination and purpose, while strategy outlines the roadmap to get there.
A roadmap is a visual or strategic tool that outlines the planned actions, initiatives, or steps an enterprise intends to take over time to achieve specific goals. It serves as a high-level guide, providing a clear timeline and path for implementing strategies and reaching desired outcomes.
The figure below illustrates the relations between the mission, strategy and vision. A roadmap is the actual course of actions to be taken to achieve the outcomes.
The mission is the purpose why an enterprise exists in the first place – the reason for being. The vision is the future state that an enterprise wants to achieve. The strategy is the course of actions to be taken toward the vision.
The strategy is like a playbook, explaining how we play, what moves we make, and according to which values and principles. The roadmap is a detailed plan of when we do actions and what are the resulting outcomes.
Strategy execution can be started by identifying high-level goals, from which the more detailed operational-level goals can be derived. After goal setting, it is possible to define concrete actions to be taken to achieve actual end results *). It is suggested that the results can be measured so that it is possible to control the progress of the strategy. According to Peter Drucker: “You can’t manage what can’t measure”.
*) End results are rather outcomes than outputs. Outcome-driven approach produces traceable deliverables according to the purpose of the enterprise.
Values are typically identified and made visible to guide decision-making and people’s working in an enterprise. Values can be communicated and visualized in conjunction with the mission and vision statements. Values reflect what is important to the enterprise and help shape its identity. Values serve as a foundation for the enterprise’s culture and influence how it interacts with stakeholders such as customers, employees, partners, and owners.
Values represent the guiding beliefs that shape the culture, behaviors, and decision-making.
Principles provide guiding rules or standards that help the enterprise consistently apply its values in day-to-day decision-making and operations. Principles ensure that the enterprise’s values are put into action. Principles direct all the change activities in the enterprise to follow certain guidelines, in line with the values, to control and support people in design, development, decision-making and operations.
Principles are the operational rules and guidelines that translate the values into action.
Values guide cultural behavior and design in an enterprise context. Values affect overall development principles in an enterprise and requirements for development initiatives (such as programs, projects, business transformations etc.).
An example one-pager with concise mission, vision, strategy statements, values, and goals for an enterprise that provides IT services to local customers.
Note! A visual-textual representation combines visual elements (such as EDGY elements and icons) with textual information to communicate information more effectively. This type of representation merges visuals and text to provide context, clarify complex content, or enhance understanding by appealing to both visual and verbal processing. Visualisation makes the content easier to absorb and understand.
Which EDGY elements to use for modelling the Mission: Purpose or Content?
- Depends on the case and what is appropriate to fit the purpose.
- Purpose -element, an outcome, to represent why an enterprise is there for, what is its “outcome” for the business environment or society etc.
- Content -element can be used when the mission can be understood as a sentence only, just a content of the deeper purpose of an enterprise.
Which EDGY elements to use for modelling the Vision: Purpose or Content?
- Depends on the case and what is appropriate to fit the purpose.
- Purpose -element, an outcome, to represent what an enterprise wants to be, what is the desired “outcome” for the business environment or society etc.
- Content -element can be used when the vision can be understood as a sentence only, a content of the strategy of an enterprise.
The Purpose -element is suggested for modelling the mission and vision.
Goals
It is suggested that the goals define the qualitative changes, which can be measured by outcomes. The outcomes represent the actual achievements and are the end results of the goals.
An enterprise should have clear goals to guide its direction. If changes are needed, the goals define the specific changes we want to achieve.
For the sake of simplicity, it is suggested that there are 1) high-level strategic goals and 2) detailed operational goals. The strategic goals define why we want to change, and the operational goals define how we are going to change. The questions why and how are sufficient to specify the emotional and functional aspects that can be communicated to the people involved. This provides direction and concreteness. Once these are made clear, more detailed courses of action can be defined in the form of concrete outcomes and activities. These can be further specified within strategic plans, execution or action plans, or roadmaps.
All changes in the enterprise should be derived from the business goals, as these define the changes we aim to achieve. It is important that the goals are traceable both to (a) customer needs and (b) operational capabilities.
A goals hierarchy refers to the structure of goals in a way that illustrates their relationships and priorities. This often involves breaking down high-level, broad goals into smaller, more specific objectives that contribute to achieving the larger goals. A goals hierarchy can typically be divided into the following levels, although it may be too complex for most cases: 1) Ultimate Goals (Top level), 2) Strategic Goals (Mid-level), 3) Operational Goals (Lower-Mid level), and 4) Tactical Goals (Bottom level).
Goal Map
Goals hierarchy can be visualized as shown below. Goals can be defined at high-level and operational level.
High-level goals are usually emotional, whereas operational-level goals are functional by their nature. We can also break the goals into conventional categories of strategic-, tactical- and operational goals when appropriate.
Strategic Goals
Strategic goals are high-level goals that an enterprise want to achieve.
The strategic goals represent what needs to be changed in the enterprise in the big picture.
Note! Goals are not strategy, but course of actions. Strategy can be directed by breaking it into clearly defined goals.
Goal Analysis
It is always good practice to define goals first, at least at a high level, before starting any work. Goals express what we aim to achieve. However, to be more precise, it is important to evaluate why something needs to be done before delving into the details of what needs to be accomplished. Therefore, it is practical to identify the drivers before defining the goals. This approach makes it easier to find and articulate the goals, as drivers are the underlying causes of those goals. By collaboratively discussing the reasons and business conditions, it becomes possible to identify the root cause(s) for the change.
The ‘why’ can be analysed by identifying the drivers for change: what drives us to make changes? These drivers can then be further analysed and defined in terms of goals. Goals represent the qualitative changes to be made as a result of the drivers. Finally, the concrete, measurable achievements, the outcomes, can be specified. These are the actual changes that will occur within the enterprise. (The steps and activities required to implement the outcomes should be defined separately.)
The drivers, goals and outcomes can be identified in a table as shown below, and/or modelled with EDGY outcome and purpose elements as shown below.
Causality and Determinism. It can be said that in enterprise, organisational and business context, there is typically, if not always, a cause (reason, driver) for a goal. That is why it is advantageous to first clarify the drivers: what drives us to achieve change. In addition, most events (and phenomena) in a business environment happen for some reason – according to causality and deterministic thinking.
- Causality refers to the relationship between cause and effect. It is the principle that an event (the cause) leads to another event (the effect), where the effect is a consequence of the cause
- Determinism:all events, including human actions, are determined by previously existing causes.
Cause and effect. Causal relation between causes and effects. A cause can be a driver that forces us to do some change(s). An effect can be e.g. a goal that we set.
Determinism is a causal chain of events.
Goal-driven design / Design by Goals. All the designs shall be derived from the goals of the enterprise. The high-level strategic goals and detailed operational-level goals can be further specified into measurable goals or outcomes. There have to be connection and traceability between the goals and designs in both directions. Otherwise either the goals can be disconnected from the operational reality and change activities, or the designs can be disconnected from the enterprise’s goals.
Goal analysis can be defined in more detail as shown below.
Finally, all the changes are directed towards business operations, operational business, that consists of capabilities. As such, all the changes can be traced to certain capabilities. Effectively, this means that a practical principle for business changes is the capability first -principle. In practice, this means that the capability map is a good starting point when analysing the effects of goals.
Drivers act as the forces or motivations behind setting goals. Goals define what the enterprise wants to achieve. Outcomes represent the value realized from achieving goals.
Strategy and Plan
What is the difference between strategy and plan? Why a plan is not a strategy?
A strategy is distinct from a plan. Make distinction between a strategy and a plan. A strategy defines the purpose, the why. A plan, on the other hand, defines what actions needs to be taken to achieve strategic goals.
A strategy and a plan are often used interchangeably, but they serve different purposes in achieving goals. A strategy provides a high-level approach to why and what high-level goals will be achieved, while a plan provides the detailed steps for how to execute the strategy: what needs to be done, what concrete actions needs to be taken to achieve strategic goals. A plan may cover operational-level goals that are derived from the strategic, high-level goals.
Note! A well-defined strategy outlines how technology enables and supports business goals. There is no need for a separate business strategy and technology strategy.
What is the difference between strategy and plan?
Putting it simply: A strategy defines the why and the what:
- Why are we doing this?
- What are our high-level strategic goals and overall approach to achieving them?
A plan defines the how:
- How are we going to implement the strategy?
- What specific steps, operational-goals and concrete actions, and timelines (roadmaps) are needed to achieve the strategic goals?
Strategy is the “big picture” direction, while a plan breaks that direction into actionable steps. Both are essential and work together: a strategy without a plan lacks implementation, while a plan without a strategy lacks purpose and coherence.
Why a plan is not a strategy? A plan is not a strategy because it lacks the reasoning, vision, and adaptability that a strategy provides. A plan simply outlines actions, but without a solid strategy:
- Actions may lack purpose or alignment with broader, high-level goals.
- Plans become irrelevant if external, environmental circumstances change.
- By relying only on plans, enterprises can become task-focused rather than outcome-driven.
Here’s how strategy and plan align with the questions “why,” “what,” “how,” “who,” and “when”:
A strategy is like a map that sets the direction for a journey towards strategic goals.
A plan is like the route that details the specific stops, steps, and timing to reach the destination.
A strategy provides overarching purpose and direction.
A strategy is the “big picture” direction, defining the purpose, the why.
A plan translates strategy into concrete actions.
A plan defines actionable steps to execute the strategy.
Strategic Planning
Strategic planning (or strategy planning) is a process through which an enterprise defines its long-term goals, establishes the actions necessary to achieve those goals, and allocates resources to execute the plan. It involves setting a direction for the enterprise and determining how to best pursue future opportunities and tackle potential challenges. Strategic planning focuses on making decisions that guide the enterprise toward achieving its vision.
Strategy planning typically led by top-level (C-level) management but involves input from various parts of the enterprise. The primary goal of strategic planning is to provide a roadmap for adaptation to changing business environment (such as market) conditions, and efficient use of resources.
Elements of Strategic Planning:
- Mission: The purpose of the enterprise – what it aims to achieve.
- Vision: The long-term goal or desired future state of the organization.
- Goals: Specific, measurable targets that align with the mission and vision.
- Values and Principles: guide the enterprise’s behaviors and decision-making.
- Strategies: Broad approaches or methods for achieving the set goals.
- Action Plans: Detailed steps, timelines, and responsibilities for implementing the strategies.
- Resource Allocation: Deciding how to allocate financial, human, and physical resources to support the strategies.
- Measurements: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure progress.
- Risk Management: Identify and mitigate potential enterprise risks.
- Monitoring: Evaluating progress and making necessary adjustments.
Strategic planning is making choices and decisions to achieve the enterprise’s vision.
The timeframe of a strategy can vary depending on the enterprise’s goals, industry, and the nature of the strategy itself. However, strategy is generally focused on long-term planning, typically spanning several years. Long-term strategies typically cover 3 to 5+ years, focusing on achieving the enterprise’s overall vision and high-level goals. Medium-term strategies generally cover 1 to 3 years, focusing on implementing significant initiatives that support long-term goals. Short-term strategies cover a timeframe of 6 months to 1 year, focusing on immediate priorities, operational goals, and tactical actions.
Even though strategies typically have a long-term focus, enterprises often review and adjust their strategies on a yearly or quarterly basis. This allows them to stay responsive to changes in the business environment, technology, or internal factors.
How to define a strategy?
A well-defined strategy answers key questions about the enterprise’s future direction:
- Where are we now? (Current state analysis about the mission)
- Where do we want to be? (Vision, long-term goals)
- How will we get there? (Strategic choices and actions)
- What capabilities and resources do we need? (Capability assessment and resource allocation)
- How do we measure performance and success? (Key performance indicators)
Steps for strategy planning:
- Current state analysis: Assess the Current Situation with the tools such as the plain old SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats), which helps in understanding the internal and external factors affecting the enterprise.
- Clarify Mission, Vision, and Values: Ensure that the strategy is aligned with the enterprise’s mission (purpose), vision (long-term aspirations), and core values (guiding beliefs).
- Goal setting: Set clear goals to provide clarity on what the enterprise aims to achieve over a specific period (e.g. 3-5 years or more). Prioritise goals.
- Define actions: Based on the prioritised strategic goals, define actionable steps in an action plan (a roadmap of activities to be taken over time) that outlines how the enterprise will achieve its goals and within what timeframe.
- Identify affected Capabilities: Identify which capabilities need to be changed or created, what resources they include (are to be allocated), and what are the associated costs.
- Define measurements: Define measurements: Identify the outcomes with which to measure progress and success.
- Risk assessment: analyse enterprise level risks.
Strategic planning is followed by strategy implementation and monitoring.
Strategy planning steps are illustrated in the figure below.
Strategic Management. Enterprise Design provides an overall holistic method for managing strategies at the enterprise level. The Facet Model can be used as a “theoretical framework” analysing e.g. following matters with appropriate tools (see templates, chapter 8. ):
- Environmental Analysis: Understanding the internal and external environment, which involves tools like SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) and PESTEL (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, Legal) analysis.
- Strategy Formulation: This involves setting clear strategic goals, choosing the best strategic path (e.g., growth, stability, or retrenchment), and determining the competitive strategy (e.g., cost leadership, differentiation, or focus).
See template Strategy Canvas (one-pager Strategy Canvas) link.
Strategy Plan or strategic plan outlines an enterprise’s long-term goals and the actions needed to achieve them. It serves as a roadmap that guides an enterprise’s decisions and priorities over a specific period, often 3–5 years, by focusing on its vision, mission, and key objectives Goals are not the strategy, but the course of actions. Actionable activities form the strategy.
Simplified strategy plan:
Dwight D. Eisenhower: “Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”
Mike Tyson: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM) bridges the gap between the strategy and value creation and -delivery. Strategic portfolio management operates at a higher level, ensuring that all initiatives, programs and projects across the enterprise contribute to strategic goals. In this way, SPM provides a strategic “big picture” view, focusing on overall value and alignment rather than on the specific details of project execution.
Strategic Portfolio Management is a high-level approach to selecting, prioritizing, and managing an enterprise’s programs and projects and to maximize their strategic impact. SPM helps ensure that every initiative undertaken contributes to the enterprise’s strategy.
There can be different level portfolios in an enterprise.
Strategic Scenario Planning. “A scenario is a detailed and plausible view of how the business environment of an enterprise might develop in the future based on groupings of key environmental influences and drivers of change about which there is a high level of uncertainty.” [Exploring Corporate Strategy, Johnson. G. and Scholes K.]
A Wardley Map can be used for strategic scenario planning. See template Wardley Map (link).
‘Strategy without Scenario Planning is wishful thinking’.
Wardley Mapping
Strategic planning can take advantage of scenario mapping with Wardley Mapping *). A Wardley Map represents the situational awareness and assumptions about a context, and illustrates which strategic scenarios are available, or have been recognised. A Wardley map is a tool and an approach with which strategic scenarios can be made. The tool is simple, it consists of Y- and X-axes. The Y-axis represents the visibility towards the customer (activities needed to fulfill customer needs), and the X-axis represents the evolution (how activities change over time). The map is anchored to customer segment(s), related to which the strategic movements can be taken.
A Wardley Map is a representation of business operations in a certain context. The example below introduces an operational business landscape, in which certain strategic scenarios can be made by the management and specialists (C-level + professional advisors)
The diagram above represents the following strategic scenarios:
Scenario 1:
- Customer Service -capability is outsourced, for better customer service and cost-efficiency. The new service provider manages both personnel and concerned applications (e.g. CRM).
Scenario 2:
- Order Handling -capability is changed to utilize Order Handling application as a SaaS **) cloud service from an external provider, for better and modernized features. This scenario is keeping the personnel and other applications within the organisation. Another option, scenario 2 B would e.g. outsource the whole Order Handling capability, not only parts of it.
Scenario 3:
- Delivery and Logistics -capability is outsourced, as it is not the core but supporting operations of the business of the organisation.
These scenarios can be executed sequentially, or alternative scenarios can be created for each main scenario. There is always a scenario ‘no changes at all; nothing is to be changed’, and then several alternative scenarios in what extent the target area is to be changed (from partly to completely changed).
*) Wardley map method is created by Simon Wardley. See more information from here: https://learnwardleymapping.com/book/
**) SaaS = Software as a Service. One of the cloud computing related “as a service” business models (XaaS models such as Infrastructure as a Service/IaaS, Platform as a Service/PaaS). SaaS is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. Also known as on-demand software, web-based software, or web-hosted software. [Wikipedia]
SWOT-analysis (Strenghts, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
Plain old SWOT analysis tool can be used for any kind of business analysis. For example, SWOT can be used for current state analysis to support strategy planning and other change activities within the entire enterprise, business unit or certain product- or service area etc.
SWOT analysis cover internal strengths and weaknesses together with external opportunities and threats. It is a technique for assessing these four aspects of the business. SWOT analysis can be done by using EDGY Outcome base elements, as they represent states of affairs or business events that have occurred or may occur. These findings can be used e.g. as drivers for change within goal setting and creating a Goal Map and/or Strategy Map.
See the SWOT template. Load free PowerPoint templates for EDGY from here: link.
Strategy Execution
Strategic planning forces the change in an enterprise. Strategy is implemented by the components such as initiatives, change programs, projects / products, work packages, change requirements and change actions.
An initiative can be e.g. a strategic level digital transformation. (Transformation is just another name for change).
An initiative can consist of programs, projects, products, work packages or concepts, which direct concrete change actions that are derived from change requirements.
Components for strategy execution introduced in the table below.
Strategy Process
Common strategy process consists of phases with which we try to answer to following questions:
- Insight: Where we are now? (as-is analysis)
- What we make and offer now?
- How we operate now?
- Vision: Where do we want to go? (to-be analysis)
- What are the changes we want to achieve?
- Clarify the mission, vision, values and strategic goals.
- Choices: How to get there? (Gap analysis & goals)
- What are our choices? Our strategic goals?
- What are the changes we choose to implement?
- Execution: What actions are to be taken? (Course of actions)
- How we implement the changes according to our goals?
- What is our action plan? How we monitor/measure the progress?
Enterprise’s strategy process can be defined in detail as shown below.
Trends
Trends and phenomena are high-level change drivers for an enterprise. Trends are the external opportunities and threats that can be identified within SWOT analysis. There are many trends that affect nationwide, society and economy, people, businesses and organisations, and individuals. Here are some examples of megatrends or trends that can be considered when creating visions and strategies. These are modelled as EDGY outcomes, as they represent state changes, events, occurrences or phenomena that may appear or emerge.
[1] Sitra (Suomen itsenäisyyden juhlarahasto Sitra), https://www.sitra.fi/en/topics/megatrends/.
Drivers of Change
Drivers represent certain context-specific events or occurrences, that act as triggers for changes. Drivers are causes (some of them are root causes) for change activities. It is practical to first identify change drivers before starting to define goals. Change drivers make it visible why some changes are needed. With the help of change drivers it is easier to find what needs to be changed.
According to Donald Rumsfeld “there are unknown unknowns”. Concepts of “known knowns”, “known unknowns”, and “unknown unknowns” are concerning drivers, some of which we know, some are unpredictable.
Examples of sources, forces, and factors that influence an enterprise, its existence, and its changes.
Change is only constant in life – [Heraclitus]
Change Activities
Drivers affect the business operations (operational business) of an enterprise that sets goals to implement changes.
Since business operations are based on capabilities, all change activities are directed towards capabilities and their content (components): people, processes, and assets of the enterprise.
The change is performed by activities (actions) that are a) based on drivers and goals and b) directed to certain capabilities of the enterprise. At high-level, the business strategic goals are derived to more operational goals that define the desired outcomes. These outcomes are the drivers and demands for the changes required.
The diagram below illustrates how strategic and operational goals are directed towards operational business through capabilities. Ultimately, changes made to capabilities, and the related products and/or services, impact the customer experience.
Business Change
The identity elements Purpose, Content and Story of EDGY and base elements Activity, Object and Outcome can be used for analysing the business case of a business change. This means making visible what is the ‘beef’ in a certain activity, or innovation, or new concept or in change initiative, or in business transformation (of any size from a small change to a large transformation program). The best way to do that is visualise the introduction into a compact ‘one-pager’ diagram. All this can be modelled into a compact intro one-pager with various elements. Lots of example templates and canvases introduced in this document (see chapter Templates 9. ).
Compared to well-known business model analysing tools, such as the Business Model Canvas (BMC), this view is simplistic introduction to what the business is all about. The customer perspective can then be opened in more detail with e.g. stakeholder map and service blueprint. The latter describes the customer experience part of the story: what are the tasks/needs that this particular product or service fulfills.
Change Demand. The base element Outcome can be used for visualization of change demands that are to be further analysed e.g. in concept design.
Change Initiative, program, project, concept, change requirement or other structural aspect of design or development can modelled with the EDGY Object element.
Change Activity. The base element Activity can be used for modelling any change activities or actions. Every activity in an enterprise can be defined in a few, short and clear sentences. Every activity has a reason to be, some story, something to offer, and some people who are organized themselves.
Roadmap
A high-level strategic roadmap can be modelled with the EDGY Story element.
A basic roadmap (Activity Map) can be created for any kind and size of change efforts and initiatives. EDGY Activity element can be used for depicting the stages or phases of a roadmap, the series of activities to be taken for achieving a certain ultimate target.
A roadmap illustrates what has happened and what’s next. An example below.
Another example below.
The EDGY base elements can be used for analysing the roadmap with outputs and outcomes.
Business Capability Roadmap
As capabilities represent the core components of the operational business, all change initiatives, such as business transformation programs, can target these capabilities. A business capability roadmap can be used to illustrate why and what changes are to be implemented, and in what order.
Business Transformation Roadmap
EDGY can be used for analysing, defining and visualizing business change programs. For example, a business transformation program can be illustrated in the roadmap as shown below.
Each phase of the roadmap represents a certain transition that is to be taken. In this case, the transitions impact certain capabilities that are to be changed. The exact changes can be defined and visualized in detailed diagrams per each capability, explaining which parts of the capability are to be changed and how. The prerequisite is that the capabilities of the business are identified, and as suggested, visualized in the capability map.
Organisation Map
Organisation structure can be represented in a map e.g. in a) a hierarchical format or b) nested format as shown below.
Element hierarchy can be represented by nesting elements: parent elements contain child elements, that are positioned inside the parent. This style saves space in the diagram, and is intuitively easy to interpret.
Organisation Culture
Organisation culture is what occurs when people interact with each other. Culture is an emergent occurrence of people’s behavior, which starts growing whenever two or more people work together. Culture exists for sure, we can feel it, but we can’t touch it. Organisational culture is the ‘basic assumptions and beliefs’ that are shared by members of an organisation.
Culture cannot be directly changed, but it can be influenced e.g. by mission, vision and values as well as and stories we tell about ourselves, and the content that we produce and share. Culture is much about communication and is reflected in the brand image.
Culture exists somewhere in between the identity, organisation and people of an enterprise.
Good culture can be seeded by management by enforcing good spirit and encouraging and inspiring working atmosphere, where employees appreciate each other. Bad culture consists of discouraging and dismissive attitudes toward colleagues, which causes bad results in employee satisfaction and recruitment.
The phrase ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’ means that ‘culture is what happens when nobody is seeing’. Culture is how people behave, how they interact, communicate and do their tasks in practice. In contrast, the strategy is (hopefully) concretised and implemented in operations, processes how people should do their work.
Employee experience. Organisational culture affects the employee experience and well-being. When employees are well and employee satisfaction is high, they deliver a better customer experience. Since people (humans) are psycho-physical-social beings, many factors influence the employee experience. Management and leadership in an organisation have a significant impact on employee satisfaction. An organisation’s leadership can influence either positively or negatively through its actions, as organisational culture is shaped both top-down and bottom-up.
Management and leadership, through poor example or communication, can weaken an enthusiastic and encouraging atmosphere. However, if the organisation’s management can create a functional physical work environment and a safe, inspiring, and supportive social work environment, then employees’ mental well-being and employee satisfaction will be at a good level. It is important that employees’ psychological workload (cognitive load) is at an appropriate level; otherwise, employee experience and well-being may suffer, leading to issues with endurance and absenteeism due to mental health reasons.
Poor management is the reason for a negative organizational culture and work atmosphere, leading to absenteeism and staff turnover. And conversely, good management encourages high performance, leads to a positive employee experience, effective business operations, and ultimately results in a good customer experience.
People-Focused Identity of an Enterprise
Identity – the Business reason. Identity explains the fundamental reasons why the business exists and why it involves people around it. That’s why it is crucial to clarify why the business we do is important so that people can be motivated and to provide the best versions themselves.
Cold story. American economist Milton Friedman developed the doctrine as a theory of business ethics that states that “an entity’s greatest responsibility lies in the satisfaction of the shareholders.” Therefore, the business should always endeavor to maximize its revenues to increase returns for the shareholders.
The Friedman Doctrine, also known as the Shareholder Theory, provides insights on how to increase shareholder value. According to the doctrine, shareholder satisfaction is an entity’s greatest responsibility. However, the doctrine also faces expansive criticism since it turns a blind eye to social responsibility activities.
Warm story. Now, what can or should be done is to adjust the focus on employees, as they are the ones who make things happen. Satisfied employees enable good customer satisfaction. Moreover, an enterprise should shift its focus to people and social responsibility on a broader scale: all the people interested or involved in the operations of the enterprise should be prioritized – instead of focusing only on shareholders. Shareholders benefit if all the people who experience the enterprise in some way can get the most out of it. That means:
- “An entity’s greatest responsibility lies in the satisfaction of all the people.”
So, it is important to adjust the focus to people and ask ourselves, ‘What can we do for people?’ – for customers, employees, partners, owners, etc. People do what they need to do when the conditions are good and the atmosphere is encouraging and inspiring – rather than discouraging and divisive. Organisation culture matters. Organisation culture must be nurtured.
Turn the clock to people’s time.
Brand
The brand of an enterprise is the collective perception, identity, and reputation of the enterprise as understood by its stakeholders, including customers, employees, and diverse stakeholder groups (such as owners and partners). It represents the values, promises, and experiences associated with the enterprise and influences how it is recognized and remembered.
Elements of a brand:
- Identity: The visual and verbal elements that distinguish the enterprise, such as its logo, colors, tagline, and name. Example: Apple’s minimalist design and the iconic apple logo.
- Value Proposition: The unique value or benefit the enterprise promises to deliver to its customers or stakeholders.
- Mission and Vision: The purpose (mission) and long-term aspirations (vision) of the enterprise that define its reason for existence and direction.
- Customer Experience: How customers interact with and experience the enterprise across touchpoints, including products, and services.
- Reputation: The public perception of the enterprise, shaped by its actions, communication, and customer experiences over time.
- Emotional Connection: The feelings and associations stakeholders have with the enterprise, often built through storytelling, consistent messaging, and meaningful customer engagement.
- Cultural Values: The principles and ethics the enterprise stands for, including its stance on sustainability, inclusivity, or innovation, which resonate with its audience.
The brand of an enterprise is more than just a logo or tagline – it encapsulates the identity, reputation, and promises of the enterprise. It is a strategic asset that drives customer loyalty, builds trust, and creates differentiation in competitive markets. A strong, well-managed brand aligns all aspects of the enterprise with its mission, values, and goals, ensuring lasting impact and success. The brand is an important element in shaping the customer perception.
A brand can be modelled with EDGY Brand element.
The brand of an enterprise is its identity and reputation as perceived by stakeholders, representing its values, promises, and the experiences it delivers.
[Ref.: Business development through service design, Stenlund, P. & Golnick, L., 2020.]
A brand is a bridge between the identity of an enterprise and the experience of its customers.
This metaphor (above) effectively captures the role of a brand in connecting how an enterprise defines itself (identity) with how customers perceive and interact with it (experience). It emphasizes the brand’s function as a mediator that aligns internal purpose with external perception.
Business Object Map
When co-designing design challenge, it is good practice to identify the business concepts / -objects of the target area. The object map introduces business objects used in the target area (such as ecosystem, enterprise, business unit, product- / service area). This is a simple view that consists of object elements that are related with each other. This object map can also be called to Concept Map or Mind Map, depending on the case: how abstract or detailed things are concerned. This view can be modelled with the EDGY Object -elements with association relationship (with labels).
This object map can be further enriched with more details such as cardinalities between the objects (e.g. one-to-one, one-to-many etc.) as shown below.
Master data objects can be marked e.g. with the labels as shown above. In the case of large models, a coloring scheme can be used to make a diagram more readable.
Business Map
Business Map can be used for analysing the business fundamentals: the customer perspective meets the organisation perspective. Customers and their needs are positioned on the outer circles, and the products and capabilities of the enterprise are positioned on the inner circles.
Context Diagram
Overview of the business environment explaining the context of the development target.
Outside-in & inside-out intersection as a layered overview, representing the context of specific subject matter area.
Business Core
Business core refers to the fundamental aspects of a business that define its primary purpose, value proposition, and the essential elements that enable it to operate and succeed. The business core is the foundation on which an enterprise is built. It represents the essential components that define its identity, ensure its relevance, and enable it to create value for its stakeholders. Understanding the business core is crucial for strategic decision-making, innovation, and growth.
The business core is the essence of business, the “soul” or central defining quality of an enterprise. It provides clarity, direction, and purpose, ensuring that all actions and decisions align with what truly matters to the enterprise, its customers, and society at large. The business core represents the essence of “what” the business does, “how” it does it, and “why” it exists. A well-defined and optimized business core enables an enterprise to deliver value to customers and adapt to changes in the business environment.
The business core is the foundation on which an enterprise is built.
These elements collectively represent the essence of an enterprise and align its purpose, operations, and value creation:
These elements work in tandem to define the essence of the enterprise:
- Mission and Vision provide the “why” and “where.”
- Values and Principles guide the “how.”
- Strategy and Goals map out the “what” and “when.”
- Capabilities & Resources ensure the business has the means to execute.
- Offerings & Value Propositions define the “what” delivered to the customer.
When these elements are cohesive, they create a clear and robust business core that drives alignment, value creation, and sustained success.
People. The role of people or stakeholders in the business core is essential, as they directly influence, shape, and enable key components such as the mission, values, vision, strategy, goals, principles, capabilities, resources, offerings, and value propositions.
Management systems serve as the operational backbone that ensures the business core, its purpose, capabilities, and value creation, functions effectively. By aligning with the enterprises’s goals and values, management systems not only support but also enhance the foundational elements that define the enterprise.
The business core represents the essence of an enterprise and aligns its purpose, operations, and value creation.
EDGY tools
The Enterprise Design language, EDGY, from the Intersection Group, enables people to design well-designed outcomes for better enterprises!
EDGY diagrams can be created with several tools, such as:
- Draw.io (available as Confluence plugin, which enables lots of features for combining diagrams, text and tables)
- Draw.io net (web browser based tool, Windows, Mac)
- Draw.io desktop client
- Miro
- QualiWare
- BlueDolphin
- Powerpoint (stencils from EDGY tools)
More to come.
EDGY stencils (+ lots of information) can be found on the Intersection Group’s Enterprise Design with EDGY pages:
- Enterprise Design with EDGY
- EDGY Tools (stencils for Draw.io, PowerPoint etc.)
- E.g. for Draw.io, just drop stencils XML-file to Draw.io user interface, and you will see this on the tool palette:
References
[1] Intersection Group pages, https://intersection.group
[2] Enterprise Design with EDGY pages, https://enterprise.design/
[3] EDGY language foundations, book, 2023, (available as pdf), link
[4] EDGY 23 Language Foundations, Online course (4 weeks), Milan Guenther & Wolfgang Goebl, link
[5] Enterprise Design Patterns, Intersection Group book, 2020, (available as pdf), link
[6] EDGY 23 product release, launch on 29th March 2023, webinar recording, Milan Guenther & Wolfgang Goebl, link
— Eero Hosiaisluoma