We defined it in the first post of this series. Organizational Capability Debt.
The gap between what a change requires and what your organization is currently built to deliver.
Here's what it looks like when someone actually goes looking for it.
About thirty years ago I was running cross-functional training for a manufacturer. Every department in the room.
I kept hearing the same name. PRB-LM. A circuit board.
One group mentioned it. So I asked the next group. Then the next.
Same story every time.
At the end of the day I walked into the CEO's office. He was an engineer.
"Tell me about PRB-LM. I'm hearing a lot of very bad things about it."
He laughed. Explained what the board did. Then asked what I was hearing.
He didn't let it linger. He never does.
The engineers designed it. They never had to build it.
The builders built it. They never had to engineer it.
Over the next few weeks, steps went in to make it easier to produce.
The full redesign came later. It was a major project.
The knowledge was always there. A piece in engineering. A piece on the floor.
What was missing was a way for the pieces to come together.
That's the debt.
The training was the line item. The one that usually gets treated as a checkbox.
Dominic Luzi · Chief Answer Grape, Management Alchemy
