This case study showcases how understanding and adapting to organisational context can improve collaboration and agility. It focuses on a critical technology program for a major player in the aviation industry, developing systems crucial for aviation safety and functionality.
Major aviation organisation operating a critical technology program, presented anonymously
Aviation, with a focus on technology programs supporting safety‑critical systems
Advisory services focused on organisational design, collaboration, and ways of working
Netherlands
Organisational design and agility, using Org Topologies to support incremental and structured change
The technical part of the program was organised with management at the top, branching out into several independently led projects. Technical teams operated separately from the business program, which likely led to misalignment between business objectives and technical execution.
The organisation lacked a unified roadmap and focused mainly on immediate needs and easily prioritised tasks. Product ownership, specification, testing, and development were split across different teams, with limited communication between them. This resulted in dependencies, unclear goals, and inefficiencies that affected delivery speed and collaboration.
An Org Topologies workshop was used to map the current organisational setup. The map uses two axes: completeness of capabilities and scope of work. Teams and roles were positioned on the map to create a shared understanding of how the organisation currently operates.
Based on the insights from this mapping, an incremental approach to change was defined. The teams first focused on improving delivery and collaboration within their current structure, before gradually moving towards more cross‑functional and integrated setups.
Specific steps included aligning work to customer journey flow, improving feature prioritisation, defining a shared Definition of Done, strengthening knowledge sharing, and improving visual management. Further steps focused on integrating specification, testing, simulation, and architectural roles into cross‑functional teams, while clarifying product ownership and leadership responsibilities.
The program achieved enhanced cross‑functional collaboration, improved agility and customer‑centric development, and a structured incremental transition approach. These improvements supported better communication between teams, clearer alignment, and a more manageable way to adapt the organisational design over time.
If you’re eager to learn more about Org Topologies and how they can revolutionize your organizational design, please reach out to our team for expert guidance and insights.
Org Topologies is a framework used to map and understand organisational design. It helps teams analyse how work is structured based on scope of work and completeness of capabilities, and supports incremental organisational change.
Org Topologies were used to create a shared understanding of the existing organisational setup and to identify opportunities to improve collaboration, agility, and delivery through a structured and incremental approach.
No. The approach described in this case focused on gradual, incremental changes rather than a large scale reorganisation, allowing teams to adapt while maintaining stability and delivery continuity.
The program experienced improved cross functional collaboration, increased agility, and a clearer, more structured approach to evolving the organisational design.
