WHY IS THERE SUCH A HIGH FAILURE RATE IN BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION TODAY?

The true number of business transformation project failure is underreported. Depending on which research you follow, the figure is between 70% – 80% of business transformation projects end in failure. There is five (5) main causes in business transformation failure are – lack of stakeholder involvement, lack of senior stakeholder support, changing requirement, incomplete requirements and poor planning.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH EXISTING APPROACHES?

Nothing. They are good at the purpose they were designed for, except they are now used for a different purpose, and that is not the original purpose they were designed for. Look at TOGAF® (The Open Group Architecture Framework) for example – it’s a framework for managing ‘technology’ or ‘technology changes’. It is not surprising, it was written by a “technology standards company”. They know and understand technology. What is happening is, TOGAF® is being used in business transformation projects that the ‘framework’ to manage the ‘transformation’, but it only focuses one thing – technology. It doesn’t focus on anything else other than Technology (it almost completely ignores, the other two (2) important aspects of the organisation – People, and Process(es)). It also ignores how to transition the business from the current state, to its desired future state. It effectively put the Technology stakeholders in the drivers set, to dictate to the Business what they think they want and literally throw it over the fence to the Business for them to work out if first it is fit for purpose, and then how to use and implement it.

HOW DOES HOBA® SOLVE THE PROBLEM IN BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION TODAY?

HOBA® solves the 70% failure rate in business transformation problem by addressing the causes that problem in the first place – by putting the Business back into control, to take control back from Technology and into their own hands, using a structured process and framework that was developed WITH the Business, BY the Business, to be USED and OWNED by the Business, putting the control back into their own hands.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION PROJECTS AND HOW DOES HOBA® HELP?

The biggest problem with business transformation projects is firstly the name. “Business Transformation” is incorrectly called or referred to as “Digital Transformation”. ‘Digital Transformation’ is a misnomer, it is not ‘digital’ per se that is ‘transforming’, it is the ‘Business’ that is transforming, and how it does or is doing that in this period of time is via ‘digital technologies’ (if ‘technology’ isn’t already digital, what were they before?). What this intentional confusion in the marketplace is causing, is it causes is an incorrect bias and focus on the ‘technology aspect’ only of the transformation, which by doing so completely ignores the Business aspects – that’s the Business Operations Stakeholders and their concerns, and the Processes those stakeholders carry out. HOBA® helps by putting the Business back in to control, to be very clear and structured with what is the Vision, Strategy, Objectives and Measures, what stakeholders are involved and need to be involved in the transformation and their decision making authority, the process to manage those decisions, scope and risks; what are the problems they want to address or opportunities they want to take advantage of; what benefits they want to realise from the transformation and when; what the future or Target Operating Model (TOM) needs to look like to achieve their Vision and Strategic Objectives and business benefits, and how and when will the changes be implemented. Everything and nothing more, only doing what needs to be done, to transform the business, not doing what is happening in the marketplace today and that is ‘creating reams and reams of colourful models and diagrams, that while beautiful, are in reality just “interesting but (sadly) useless”.

WHAT IS THE DESIGN PROCESS?

The Design Process is the 6-Step process used to implement HOBA® and manage the transformation from the very start, to the very end, implementation.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION IN THE MARKETPLACE?

The biggest misconception in the marketplace today with business transformation is that Clients are led to believe that they need ‘reams and reams’ of pretty colourful presentations to transform your business. This is a fallacy. This only creates expensive shelf-ware. What those ‘pretty presentations’ are designed for is to enable the transformation project to keep moving toward its end goal, transforming the Business. What the Clients are led to believe is those ‘pretty presentations are the actual goal of the project, and often celebrated and hang up on the project office wall with great bravado as if they were the goal of the transformation itself! What those ‘pretty presentations’ actually need to be is two (2) things – first, is they need to be understandable, and written in a language that the Business understands, so first they can understand what it and they mean, and then they can agree to it. Then second, then they need to be useful. A lot of Consultants and Consultancy’s wanting to impress their clients with great marketing, pretty presentations and long list of impressive acronyms and latest “it” words, but this just confuses the Client. What happens is the Consultants will present their ‘ideas’ (because that’s what they are, they have had one meeting with the Client, interpreted that into their own words and perspectives, and come back to them several weeks and months later, having not consulted with them through the process, thinking ‘they know their Clients business best (they don’t, the Client does!) and play back their 300+ page power-point presentation that looks impressive), they present it to the Client, the Client has no idea what it means or says (its written in a foreign language, literally), due to the time it’s taken, and the money it has cost at that point, the Client agrees to it in the room, then walks out the room, and completely ignores everything the Consultant(s) said. The transformation goes nowhere. HOBA® solves that problem, refer to the first question above.

HOBA® is trusted by the UK Government, FTSE-100 companies and start-ups to both set up, and also turnaround their failing transformations. HOBA® is used by thousands around to transform their business, and was made public for the first time in late 2018, after over 10+ years in use with private clients, published in The Business Transformation Playbook – How to Implement Your Organisations Target Operating Model (TOM) and Achieve a Zero-Percent Failure Rate Using the 6-Step Agile Framework’, reaching bestseller on Amazon in 6-categories including Project Management and Consulting, and made it onto the Best Business Strategy eBook List of All Time by BookAuthority, at no.30 (March 2021). See News for details.

CAN I READ A PREVIEW OF THE BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION PLAYBOOK?

Yes, you can download a FREE preview to The Business Transformation Playbook here.

6 Steps to Create a Target Operating Model (TOM) That’s Not Just Marketecture

By Heath Gascoigne
May 19, 2025
Business Design, Business Transformation
Post Views: 1,110

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🔥 Introduction

Let’s be blunt: most Target Operating Models (TOMs) we see today are little more than PowerPoint theatre—beautiful diagrams, vague strategies, and colourful arrows pointing nowhere. They look impressive. They sound smart. But they’re completely useless.

They’re not TOMs. They’re marketecture—designed to sell, not to solve.

I’m Heath Gascoigne—author of the 6x international bestseller The Business Transformation Playbook, and creator of HOBA®, the Agile Business Transformation framework used by tens of thousands of practitioners and hundreds of companies, including the UK Government.

In this post, I’m going to break down:

Why most “TOMs” are a waste of time, money, and opportunity 💸
How to avoid the trap of high-level, conceptual fluff 🧻
And how to build a real, actionable Target Operating Model using our proven 6-step process 🛠️

Most importantly, you’ll learn how to stop letting technology drive your transformation—and start designing a business-led model that actually gets implemented.

What You’ll Learn in This Article:

Let’s break it down, step by step.👇

1. What Is a Target Operating Model (Really)?

A Target Operating Model (TOM) defines how an organisation will operate in the future. That includes its people, processes, systems, and structure. But most get it wrong. Why?

Because they skip the how, and jump straight to the what.

Don't have the time? Want to read this later? No problem, download our guide and read it later!

👏 "If your Target Operating Model is just a fancy diagram, it’s not a model — it’s marketecture. Real models deliver measurable outcomes. #BusinessTransformation #TOM #HOBA 🚀

Heath Gascoigne Tweet

2. Why Most TOMs Fail – The Marketecture Problem

What we often see are TOMs that are pretty, but pointless.

But when you ask simple questions—“How much will this cost?” “How do we implement it?”—there’s no answer.

That’s not transformation. That’s presentation theatre.

3. The Biggest Lie in “Enterprise Architecture”

Let’s ruffle a few feathers: most “Enterprise Architects” aren’t architects of the enterprise. They’re technology architects who just renamed themselves.

They focus solely on IT systems and call that the “enterprise.” They ignore the people, the processes, the strategy—the actual business.

That’s why business stakeholders feel ignored. They nod politely in meetings, wait for the consultants to leave, and then go back to business as usual.

Result?

⚠️ "Complexity kills transformation. Simplicity scales it. Design your TOM with intent, or your teams will improvise one anyway." #DigitalTransformation #HOBA #Leadership 💡📉

Heath Gascoigne Tweet

4. The 6 Steps to Designing a Real TOM

Transformation isn’t a random event. It’s not a moonshot.
It’s a process—a repeatable, structured, proven method.

That’s why we built HOBA® around these 6 steps:

1. Focus – Understand why you're transforming
2. Control – Know who is involved and accountable
3. Analyse – Discover what you currently do
4. Evaluate – Decide why it needs to change (yes, there's a 2nd "why")
5. Design – Determine how you’ll operate in future
6. Implement – Define when and where the change will happen

Each step aligns with the 5W1H strategic questions every transformation must answer. Most teams don’t even realise they need answers to these questions until it’s too late.

5. From Blueprints to Building Blocks – Architecting Transformation

Just like building a house, you need different architectural views:

6. Why Consultants Get Stuck in the Current State (and You Shouldn’t)

Most consultants love doing current state assessments.
They turn it into a cottage industry. Map every process. Interview every stakeholder. Create slide after slide.

And when it’s finally time to design the TOM?
You get a glossy PowerPoint deck with zero connection to reality.
No cost. No implementation plan. Just more questions.

That’s how they get more work.
At HOBA Tech, we do it differently.

We give clients the process, the models, and the answers—first time, on time.

👏 "A Target Operating Model isn’t a destination — it’s a map. If it doesn’t guide your people, processes & tech, you’re walking blind." #AgileTransformation #StrategyExecution 🧭⚙️

Heath Gascoigne Tweet

Conclusion & Next Steps

It’s time to stop confusing marketecture with transformation.

A real TOM answers real questions. It’s not a buzzword. It’s not a diagram. It’s a structured model, built on a proven 6-step process, designed to actually get implemented.

We’ve published the method in our bestselling book, applied it across government and enterprise, and trained thousands of professionals to do the same.

So, what’s your next step?

💬 Call to Action:

✅ Read our international bestseller – The Business Transformation Playbook

🎓 Join our HOBA Certified Agile Transformation Course – Intro to Agile Business Transformation

📥 Download our free TOM checklist or blueprint template free TOM checklist + blueprint templates

📞 Or schedule a free discovery call to see how we can help you design a TOM that works – Schedule here

Looking for the Best Training to deliver your Business Transformation? Search no more!

🚀 "Your TOM should be built for execution, not admiration. If your teams can’t use it on Monday morning, it’s already failed." #BusinessArchitecture #TOM #ExecutionOverElegance 💼✅

Heath Gascoigne Tweet

About HOBA Tech

If this resonated with you, discover how to make Business Transformation a reality—with less stress, fewer resources, and faster results. Explore our award-winning agile Business Transformation Framework, trusted by organizations worldwide, from the UK Government and FTSE-100 companies to innovative start-ups. Ready to begin your transformation journey? Start here.

Curious why The Business Transformation Playbook is hailed as the “Business Transformation Bible”? See what readers are saying in the Amazon reviews.

We’d love to hear your thoughts! Let us know in the comments what stood out to you or what topics you’d like us to cover next. If you found this valuable, share it with others who could benefit!

Thank you for reading, and here’s to your transformation success!

Sincerely,

Heath Gascoigne

P.S. If you want to join our Business Transformator community of 2,000+ like-minded Business Transformators, join the community on the Business Transformator Facebook Group here.

P.P.S. If you want to learn more about business transformation, check out The Business Transformation Playbook.

Heath Gascoigne

Hi, I'm Heath, the founder of HOBA TECH and host of The Business Transformation Podcast. I help Business Transformation Consultants, Business Designers and Business Architects transform their and their clients' business and join the 30% club that succeed. Join me on this journey.

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