“Simplicity carried to an extreme, becomes elegance”
John Franklin
Purpose-driven Business
Mastering your business begins with being able to describe it clearly. You can’t manage, improve, or measure what you don’t fully understand. However, describing a business is not just a step but a journey through complexity.
In the late 20th century, during the rise of Information Engineering, a new way of describing businesses emerged. When the first commercial computers arrived in the 1950s, they were limited in scope. By the 1960s, as programming grew, organisations that bought computers had to rely on their own people—typically those who knew the business discipline being automated, such as payroll—to write the programs themselves. There weren’t ready-made packages or a programming workforce. While these early programmers understood the business system they automated, they soon moved away from that expertise. This gap led to the rise of business analysts, who acted as a bridge between business needs and IT, enabling businesses to formalize their processes and requirements. At this time Information Engineering supported the new way of working and this transformation was crucial because it brought structure to how businesses were described and managed, allowing technology to be effectively integrated into business operations.
One pioneer of this structured approach was John Zachman. His initial framework, titled A Framework for Information Systems Architecture, was published in 1987. In the 1990s, it evolved into the Zachman Framework for Enterprise Architecture. SlightlySkew uses this framework as a foundation for our own Chart of Works, though our interpretation is distinct. We start with Zachman’s “How” column, using Functional Decomposition to break down the work that needs to be done within a business, much like dismantling a machine to understand how each part functions. This method enables us to design businesses with clarity and purpose.
At SlightlySkew, we organise our approach into layers, each representing different levels of abstraction:
- The Business Purpose Layer: This is the executive view, providing a broad understanding of the organization’s mission, vision, and goals. It ensures all business actions align with long-term objectives.
- The Capability Layer: Focused on the business owner’s perspective, this layer outlines the capabilities required to execute the strategy (connected with our feature Unlocking Strategic Horizons). It is often seen as the investment level, aligning strategy with what the business can deliver.
- The Job Layer: Here, we define the jobs necessary for the business’s capabilities to succeed. It identifies what needs to be done, not necessarily how it will be done. In complex organizations, this layer may require further breakdown.
- The Activity Layer: This level is a decomposition of the Job Layer, detailing the specific activities needed to complete each capability. As with other layers, it may require multiple sub-layers for more complex operations.
- The Procedural Layer: When required, this lowest layer details the precise procedures needed to accomplish tasks. It’s often seen as micromanaging but is essential for certain operations.
The beauty of this decomposition approach lies in its self-sustaining nature: each layer’s purpose defines the next layer’s tasks, creating a business that’s driven by purpose from the top down. This method helps ensure that every part of the organisation is aligned, purposeful, and poised to execute with precision.