Most organizations believe they have a delivery problem. They don’t.
They have an operating-model problem.
Specifically, they are running an Industrial Operating Model inside markets that no longer reward industrial behavior. The result is not just frustration or inefficiency, but measurable loss of revenue, relevance, and strategic optionality.
This is not a tooling issue. It is not a training issue. It is not an “Agile maturity” issue.
It is a mismatch between how your organization is designed to work and how value is actually created today.
Two Operating Models, Two Very Different Outcomes
Every organization operates on an implicit theory of success. That theory shows up in how decisions are made, how work is funded, how people are organized, and how performance is measured.
There are two dominant models in play.
The Industrial Operating Model
The Industrial Operating Model assumes the environment is sufficiently predictable that performance improves through planning, optimisation, and control.
Under this model:
- Work is planned upfront and executed later.
- Efficiency is prioritised over learning.
- Variance is treated as failure rather than information.
- Decision-making is escalated upward.
- Output is mistaken for value.
- People are managed as capacity, not capability.
This model works extremely well when the assumptions hold: stable demand, long product lifecycles, limited competition, and slow change.
When those conditions exist, optimisation wins.
When they don’t, optimisation becomes a liability.
The Agile Product Operating Model
The Agile Product Operating Model assumes the environment is too volatile to predict reliably, and that advantage comes from learning faster than competitors.
Under this model:
- Work is discovered, not predefined.
- Decisions are made close to customers and technology.
- Feedback replaces speculation.
- Teams are persistent and cross-functional.
- Outcomes matter more than outputs.
- Management designs enabling systems rather than issuing instructions.
This is not about speed for its own sake. It is about economic responsiveness.
In dynamic markets, relevance decays quickly. Organizations that cannot learn and adjust continuously fall behind regardless of how “efficient” they appear internally.
Why Industrial Thinking Now Destroys Value
Most markets today are defined by:
- Rapid shifts in customer expectations
- Shortened product lifecycles
- Low barriers to entry
- Technology-enabled competitors
- Regulatory and geopolitical volatility
Yet most organizations still plan annually, govern quarterly, and deliver in large batches.
That mismatch creates predictable forms of waste:
- Planning waste: months invested in plans invalidated by reality before delivery begins.
- Decision latency: opportunities missed while approvals work their way up the hierarchy.
- Innovation suppression: experimentation blocked by governance designed for capital expenditure, not learning.
- Talent waste: capable people constrained by process rather than enabled by purpose.
- Market disconnect: success measured by delivery of plans, not impact on customers.
This is not accidental. It is exactly what an Industrial Operating Model produces when applied outside its natural habitat.
The organization is not failing to execute the model. It is executing the wrong model extremely well.
Why “Doing Agile” Doesn’t Fix This
Many organizations attempt to layer Agile practices on top of industrial structures.
They create teams, but keep project funding. They run sprints, but keep annual commitments. They talk about outcomes, but measure utilisation. They decentralise execution, but centralise authority.
This creates a fragile hybrid that delivers neither predictability nor adaptability.
The reason is simple: operating models are coherent systems. Each part reinforces the others.
You cannot change behavior sustainably without changing the underlying assumptions that drive structure, measurement, and leadership.
What Actually Changes When the Operating Model Changes
A shift to an Agile Product Operating Model produces tangible, commercial outcomes:
- Faster time-to-market without sacrificing quality
- Earlier validation of product bets
- Reduced investment risk through smaller decisions
- Increased customer relevance
- Improved retention of high-value talent
- Leadership leverage through system design rather than intervention
This is not cultural theatre. It is structural economics.
Why Organizations Regress
Even organizations that successfully move away from industrial thinking often drift back.
Under pressure, leaders revert to what feels safe: more planning, more control, more oversight.
Over time, approval layers return. Metrics distort behavior again. Teams lose autonomy. Learning slows.
Without deliberate operating-model hygiene, regression is inevitable.
That hygiene requires leaders to repeatedly ask:
“If we weren’t doing this today, would we choose to start?”
If the answer is no, the structure is already obsolete.
The Transition Is Not Incremental
You cannot ease your way from one operating model to another by optimizing parts.
The shift requires:
- Structuring around products, not projects
- Funding learning, not plans
- Measuring outcomes, not activity
- Redefining leadership as system stewardship
- Allowing teams to shape how work actually happens
This is not a multi-year enablement programme. It is a decision, followed by disciplined execution.
The Real Question
The question is not whether the Industrial Operating Model is “bad”.
It is whether it still fits the market you are competing in.
If your growth depends on learning, responsiveness, and relevance, then continuing to operate on assumptions of predictability is already costing you money.
Every day.
What part of your operating model still assumes the world is stable, and what would change if you stopped pretending it was?
What to Do Next
If this pattern matches your situation, three options:
- See the operating model constraint: Scaling: Growth Is Creating Friction
- See what changes when the model fits: Technical decisions scale without centralized bottlenecks
- Assess your operating model fit: Schedule a diagnostic conversation using the link below
Assess Whether Your Operating Model Still Fits Your Market
If your organization feels busy but slow, or if execution is strong but strategic returns are lagging, a diagnostic conversation can reveal which operating model assumptions are destroying value.
No sales theatre. No obligation.