Briefing
Operating models that scale without bloat
Interfaces, decision rights, and rituals that keep teams aligned as complexity increases.
Operating Model 7 min
The core idea
Operating models fail when they become documentation. They work when they define interfaces: who decides, who executes, and how decisions are made visible.
Three things to define early
These three, done well, reduce coordination cost and prevent leadership from becoming a bottleneck.
- Decision rights (what decisions exist, and who owns them).
- Interfaces (handoffs, contracts, and escalation paths).
- Rituals (cadence that makes the system observable).
Implications
Good operating models feel lightweight because they remove ambiguity. Bad ones feel heavy because they add steps without reducing risk.