Why Operating Model Change Matters More Than Tool Selection
Every failed technology program has a story about the wrong tool. The better story — the one that explains most failures — is about the unchanged operating model.
Written by
Nathan Ice
Published
January 22, 2025
Tool selection is where most enterprise technology conversations start. It is also where most transformation thinking stops.
The real work of transformation is not in choosing between Platform A and Platform B. It is in defining what the organization needs to do differently — how decisions are made, how information flows, how accountability is structured — and then determining what technology enables that change.
Operating model clarity comes first. Technology selection comes second. This ordering is not arbitrary. It is the difference between a transformation that changes the organization and one that adds cost while changing nothing of substance.