The Target Operating Model Trap in Enterprise Transformation

Every large transformation begins with a target operating model. Most of them end with an operating model that looks nothing like the target. The gap is rarely a failure of design — it is a failure of sequencing and accountability.

A target operating model designed by people who have never run the operation tends to optimise for elegance over executability. The models that survive are built backwards from how work actually flows, then sequenced so that each phase delivers standalone value.