ZBTOS by ETEGY
Ten questions · 5 minutesTransformation Lens Check →
Supporting model

Operating Requirements Model

Five questions every operating requirement must answer. A requirement isn’t ready when it’s written down. It’s ready when all five hold.

See the model →Learn to write them in the Foundation Course ›
Supporting models and measuresMethodology overview ›
A team defining operating requirements together
Strategy.
Where the enterprise intends to go.
Operating requirements.
What the operating model must make true.
Delivery, in any method.
Builds what is defined.
03

Five questions every operating requirement must answer.

Exhibit 1 · The Operating Requirements Model · tap a stone to take it out
STRATEGYWhat the enterpriseintends to changeTHE OPERATINGMODELWhere the strategyhas to become trueREACHAUTHORITYCONDITIONENABLEMENTEVIDENCEWhere must it hold?Who owns and decides?What must change?What does it take?How will we know?What must theoperating systemmake true?
A requirement isn’t ready when it’s written down.
It’s ready when all five hold.
Playing · tap any stone to try it yourself.

Delivery methods check that a requirement is written, scoped and scheduled. The Operating Requirements Model checks that it will hold in the operating model, across every team it crosses, with someone deciding and evidence finance can reproduce. Most funded transformations lose value in the gap between the two.

CONDITION
What must change?
The operating condition, stated as what must become true rather than what will be built.
REACH
Where must it hold?
The flows, seams and domains across which the condition has to survive.
AUTHORITY
Who owns and decides?
The owner of the condition and the decision rights it depends on, settled before work is assigned.
ENABLEMENT
What does it take?
The capability, funding, sequencing and governance the condition cannot hold without.
EVIDENCE
How will we know?
The operating evidence that would show the condition exists, and what would show it does not.

A requirement is not ready when it is written down. It is ready when all five hold. The five are questions every operating requirement must answer, not types of requirement.

What your team learns

What your team will be able to do.

Foundation teaches it on the Meridian case, with each area applying it to its own work. The Practitioner Intensive applies it to one live transformation.

Foundation
Write a ready requirement.
One that answers all five questions.
Foundation
Separate the two kinds.
Transformation Requirements from Enablement Requirements.
Intensive
Define them on live work.
The operating requirements of one live transformation, before solutions harden.
Practitioner Intensive
Define the requirements of your own transformation before solutions harden.
Explore the Practitioner Intensive →Operating Requirements: the Key Concept ›
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