An operating model is how your organisation gets work done: who does what, who decides, how effort and money are shared out, and which tools people use. Transformation means changing that, not just the tools.
Seeds or soil?
Seeds grow best in good soil. A picture, not a measure.
In our short story, the community garden is your organisation, the new seeds are any big change, the soil is how your people work (their habits, their know-how and who looks after what), the committee are your leaders, the only watering can is their time, the beds are teams, the chalkboard shows who looks after what, and the neighbours are everyone who picks up the new way. The shed is where an unused change ends up, the old corner with its tea and gossip bench is the comfort of the old way, plastic flowers are a launch that only looks good in photos, a small test row is a small try with one team, and a stray football is an everyday setback to learn from. The cast: Aroha, the garden organiser; Bramble, a hedgehog who dotes on Cabbage, his prize cabbage; and Doris, the neighbour who grows beans up the old flagpole.
New seeds, same hard ground. They sprout, then stall.
Worth knowing: Sometimes the tool needs changing too; listening shows which. Guides and training still matter; they work best next to someone showing how.
Watch · 2 min 16 sec
Launch day at the community garden: ribbon, speeches, new seeds. A few weeks later, nothing has grown. A short story about changing the soil, not just the seeds: the everyday habits, the know-how and who looks after what.
Who’s who: Aroha, the garden organiser; Bramble, a hedgehog who dotes on Cabbage, his prize cabbage; Doris, a neighbour with big plans for beans; and the committee (your leaders), who run the garden.
The idea in plain words
Each one in everyday words first, then the name experts use for it.
Change the soil, not just the seeds.
01
A big change lands in how people already work: their habits, what they know how to do, and the comforts of the old way. We help bring those comforts to the new way and show people how, side by side.
Experts call this: culture, capability building, change management
Try it in the garden above →02
Each piece of work has a team that looks after it from start to finish, with shared tools and visiting helpers who show how, then step back. Everyone can see who looks after what.
Experts call this: organisation design, team topologies, decision rights
See it on the chalkboard →03
Try the new way with one team on real work, look at what happened, and change the plan before it spreads.
Experts call this: agile and lean ways of working, pilots
Worth knowing: Some small tries won’t work; finding out early is the point.
04
There aren’t enough hands for every bed. Choose what gets money and effort first, and finish those before starting more.
Experts call this: portfolio management
Compare the two gardens →Planting day, not harvest day
Two gardens get the same new seeds on the same launch day. Pick a season on the sun’s path and compare them.
The leaders’ time goes on planning the next launch. The seeds sit on hard ground.
Someone checks the soil and asks people what gets in the way.
The habit: check the soil first
| Season | Launch and leave | Keep looking after it |
|---|---|---|
| Launch day | Ribbon, speeches, new seeds. Both gardens look the same today. | Ribbon, speeches, new seeds. Both gardens look the same today. |
| A few weeks later | The leaders’ time goes on planning the next launch. The seeds sit on hard ground. | Someone checks the soil and asks people what gets in the way. |
| Winter | Everyone stays in the old corner, where the tea is. | The tea and the bench move to the new beds, and each neighbour is shown how. |
| Spring | The beds have no names, so each one waits for someone else. | Each neighbour picks a bed, and one small test row goes in first. |
| Summer | Every bed got a little water, and none of them was finished. | Not enough hands for every bed, so they finish a few first. |
| Next summer | Plastic flowers in the photo bed. Weeds everywhere else. | Same seeds, and the garden is growing. Someone is already helping the garden next door get started. |
Worth knowing: The seasons in our story are a picture, not a schedule.
Worth knowing: People come round at their own pace, and sometimes listening shows the change itself needs rethinking.
Worth knowing: Choosing what to fund first is your leaders’ call; we help lay out the choices.
The chalkboard
Five garden jobs. Chalk a name next to each, or leave it to everyone, then see who does what.
Who looks after what
Everyone thought someone else had it, so the tomatoes are wilting.
Everyone thought someone else had it, so it’s still broken.
Everyone thought someone else had it, so the new beans stay in the packet.
Everyone thought someone else had it, so nobody knows where the wheelbarrow is.
Everyone thought someone else had it, so the new volunteer just watches.
The “I thought you had it” pile
Experts call these: organisation design · team topologies · decision rights · Conway’s law
| The job | Everyone’s garden | Chalk in names |
|---|---|---|
| Water the tomatoes | Everyone thought someone else had it, so the tomatoes are wilting. | Jade’s bed team looks after the tomatoes, and they get their water. |
| Fix the broken fence | Everyone thought someone else had it, so it’s still broken. | Mo’s bed team looks after it, with tools from the shed crew. |
| Try a new kind of bean | Everyone thought someone else had it, so the new beans stay in the packet. | Doris’s bed team tries one small row first, and notes what happened. |
| Lend out the wheelbarrow | Everyone thought someone else had it, so nobody knows where the wheelbarrow is. | The shed crew lends it to every bed, and everyone knows where to find it. |
| Teach the new volunteer to prune | Everyone thought someone else had it, so the new volunteer just watches. | A visiting helper shows how to prune, then steps back while the volunteer tries. |
Worth knowing: Clear owners don’t mean working alone.
Worth knowing: Leaders still set direction; the people doing the work look after the day-to-day.
Sounds familiar?
If any of these ring true, the change probably needs better soil, not more seeds.
Seven plain questions. Answer what you can, and we’ll point to where we’d look first.
Answer any question and the places we’d look first appear here.
Answer “No” or “Not sure” to any question to email the list.
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What we help with
Eight pieces of work. Start with one team, or bring them together across the organisation.
Where the change stalls, and why.
A plain picture of where work stalls, who decides what, and which habits help or hold back.
We sit with your teams, follow one piece of work through its week, and talk with people at every level about what helps and what gets in the way.
Experts call this: current-state assessment, culture review, value-stream mapping
Also in this area
Names on the beds, shared help, simple rules.
Teams who can say what they look after, aiming for less passing of work from team to team before a decision.
We help shape teams around the jobs your customers care about, agree who decides what, and set up shared help for the things every team needs. Clear owners don’t mean working alone.
Experts call this: organisation design, team topologies, decision rights
AI helpers with clear jobs, owners and checks.
AI helpers are chat assistants and AI tools that carry out a task on their own. We help decide which jobs they take on, who checks their work, what changes for the people around them, and who watches what they cost to run.
Experts call this: operating model for AI, AI agents and assistants
Also in this area
People who know how, and help after the launch.
People who know how to work the new way, not just where to log in.
Hands-on learning on real work, coaches beside the team, and room to ask questions without looking silly. Guides and training still matter; they work best next to someone showing how.
Experts call this: capability building, enablement, coaching
Help that carries on past the launch, for as long as people need it to find their feet.
Explaining the why, asking what people need, a buddy for first tries, bringing the comforts to the new way, and fixing what annoys people, well after the opening. People come round at their own pace, and sometimes listening shows the change itself needs rethinking.
Experts call this: change management, adoption
Also in this area
Small tries, a few things finished, spend everyone can see.
A way of working tried on real work before it spreads.
A pilot with one team, short cycles, regular look-backs and a notebook of what was learned, then a planned widening to the next teams. Some small tries won’t work; finding out early is the point.
Experts call this: agile and lean ways of working, pilots, plan-do-check-act
A short list of what to finish first, each piece with a clear reason.
We lay out everything already under way, what each piece is for and what it needs, and set up a simple, regular check-in where your leaders choose, pause or stop. Choosing what to fund first is your leaders’ call; we help lay out the choices.
Experts call this: portfolio management, limiting work in progress
Spending each team can see and explain.
Labelling each cost with the team that uses it, simple shared views of cloud, AI and software spend, and a routine where each team looks at its share and decides what’s worth it. Seeing the spend helps only when someone acts on it.
Experts call this: FinOps, cost transparency
Also in this area
We fit around the methods and tools you already use, whatever they are: for example a work tracker such as Jira, a whiteboard such as Miro, your office suite and your cloud provider’s cost tools.
Ways to start
Follow one team’s week, talk with the people doing the work, and get plain findings on where the change stalls.
One team tries the new habits on real work, with a name on each piece of work, small tries and a notebook of what was learned.
Make technology spend visible for one area, with a simple routine where the team looks at it and chooses what’s worth it.
How we work
The same steps as the story, in plain words, with one the story only hints at: learning together.
Check the soil
We talk with your people at every level, from the front line to the leaders, and follow one piece of work through its week. You get a plain picture of where the change stalls and which habits help or hold it back.
Where to start
We lay out everything already under way, what each piece is for and what it needs, and help pick one place to start. Choosing what to fund first is your leaders’ call; we help lay out the choices.
One bed
One team gets ready first: a name on each piece of work, time and help to learn the new way, and the comforts of the old way brought along. Leaders set the direction; the team looks after the day-to-day.
Learn together
The team tries the new way in small rows on real work, looks back often, and keeps a notebook of what it learned. Some small tries won’t work; finding out early is the point.
Help it spread
We share what worked with the next teams, keep helping people after launch day, and hand the notebook to your own people so they carry it on. People come round at their own pace, and sometimes listening shows the change itself needs rethinking.
Illustrative examples
Illustrative examples, not customer stories: the kind of work this approach suits.
Good to know
Plain answers to what owners and tech leads ask first. Something else on your mind?
Ask us directlyAn operating model is how your organisation gets work done: who does what, who decides, how effort and money are shared out, and which tools people use. Transformation means changing that, not just the tools.
That’s not what this work is about. It’s about who looks after what, what people know how to do, and how decisions get made. Decisions about roles stay with your leaders.
No. We start with one team, learn from it, then help the next teams join in. It’s a journey, not a quick fix. Change takes seasons, and timelines depend on your organisation.
Often not. We start with the habits and owners around the tools you have. Sometimes the tool needs changing too; listening shows which.
No. The seeds can be any big change: a new system, a new team shape, a new plan. The soil is the same: how your people work.
If two teams hardly talk, the systems they build often don’t fit together well. The way people talk to each other tends to become the way their systems connect; experts call this Conway’s law. So we help shape teams around the work you want your systems to do.
Together we pick a few plain signs at the start, such as people choosing the new way without being chased, less passing of work from team to team before a decision, teams who can say what they look after, and spending each team can explain, and we look at them regularly. We don’t promise numbers.
Your own coaches and leaders keep the notebook, the regular check-ins and the plain signs. We train them to run it, and we can stay on to help with the next teams if you prefer.
Heard it before?
Answer: The seeds can be fine. If the habits, the know-how and who looks after what stay the same, the new thing just sits in the shed. Sometimes the tool needs changing too; listening shows which.
Answer: Launch day is planting day, not harvest day. People need to know why, want to, and know how, and someone needs to keep helping after the opening.
Answer: Start with one small row, learn from it, then widen. Some small tries won’t work; finding out early is the point.
Answer: New boxes help only when each team knows what it looks after and has the know-how to do it. Clear owners don’t mean working alone.
Answer: It means short plans you check often, so you can change course early.
Answer: It’s about knowing who uses what and why, so each team can choose what’s worth it. Seeing the spend helps only when someone acts on it.
Take the overview or the playbook to share with your team, or tell us what big change you’re working on and where it seems to stall, and we’ll suggest where to start.
Or write to contact@algoshred.com
