We’ve mapped the capabilities—the brain, heart, and limbs of the business. We’ve agreed that the flow of work is more important than the flow of reporting lines. Now comes the hard part: the questions that challenge the current model.

To move from a legacy org chart to a high-performance operating model, you have to ask the questions that make people uncomfortable. These are the “Big Whys” that a seasoned business analyst brings to the table during a “Hash.”

Why #1: Why is “marketing” separate from “customer retention”? In many companies, marketing focuses heavily on attracting new clients, while another team looks after retention. When their plans and insights are disconnected, opportunities to support the whole client relationship can be missed.

If your North Star is “No Client Shall Ever Go Dormant,” consider a client lifecycle capability that brings together the capabilities needed to attract, welcome, support, and retain clients. Marketing is an essential part of that: understanding client needs, building the brand, communicating value, and creating relevant campaigns for both prospective and existing clients.

This does not require eliminating the marketing team or combining every specialist into one team. It means connecting marketing, sales, advice, and service through shared outcomes, clear responsibilities, and coordinated work across the client lifecycle. Marketing retains its expertise while contributing to the relationship beyond the initial acquisition.

Why #2: Why does IT own the software? Software supports a business capability, so the team using it should understand what it can do and take ownership of how effectively it supports their work. For a lending team, that means understanding how its loan origination system can help meet lending requirements and improve the client experience.

That mastery is shared across different roles within the team. Lending specialists bring knowledge of the business, while more technical roles—such as application specialists or system administrators—can support configuration, troubleshooting, maintenance, and improvements. Everyone contributes their expertise; every team member does not need to become a technical expert.

These roles work with IT on shared infrastructure, security, integration, and technical standards, with clear responsibilities for support and changes. The aim is to bring business and technical knowledge together around the capability, so the team keeps learning how to use its tools well and can identify genuine gaps before requesting new software.

Why #3: Why is “project management” a back-office function? We often treat project managers like administrative assistants who happen to have a Gantt chart. They usually sit under the Technology umbrella, meaning “IT Projects” get a PM, while “Business Projects” are managed off the side of the desk by owners who already have full-time jobs.

The Reality: project delivery is your Nervous System. It’s how the brain tells the limbs to move.

The Innovation: What if project managers were embedded directly into the core capabilities? Instead of a “PMO” sitting in a tower, you have “Delivery coaches” on the field ensuring every sprint is a step toward the North Star.

The “specialist” why: Why are business analysts pigeonholed in IT? This is a personal favourite. Why are BAs considered “Technical”? Business analysis is about gathering information, structuring it, and ensuring requirements deliver value.

The Reality: In many companies, BAs are treated as tech implementers who have to “sell” a change they didn’t even design.

The Innovation: A BA should be part of the Strategy Build. They aren’t just change agents; they are the architects ensuring the solution—whether it’s tech, people, or process—actually meets the requirement.

The “what if” scenario: A digital-first financial hub

In 2018, we imagined a structure where we stopped hiring “Generalist branch managers” and started hiring capability coaches.

Instead of a manager who oversees “The Branch,” you have a “growth coach” overseeing sales across multiple locations.

You have a “Floor manager” or “service coach” ensuring the “Zero Friction” Disney experience happens at every touchpoint.

You have specialists (Mortgages, Estates, Commercial) who oversee and coach to those specific, complex capabilities across several branches.

The reporting manager supports performance, development, and well-being, while capability coaches provide specialist guidance. Their responsibilities and decision rights need to work together.

This isn’t about firing people or causing chaos. It’s about realignment.

  • Identify a “clog” in your current workflow.
  • Ask: “Which two departments have to ’check in’ with each other to fix this?”
  • The big why: “What if they were just one team with one North Star?”

What if we blew up the org chart?

What if we replaced most traditional departments with communities of practice or excellence—places where people deepen their expertise, develop shared standards, and coach one another—and organized delivery around cross-functional teams that bring together the experts needed to deliver specific value?

Expertise would still have a home. People would still have support, development, and clear accountability. But the work would be organized around the value we need to deliver, rather than the departmental boundaries we inherited.

If we were designing the organization today, would we draw the same boxes—or start with the value we want to create?