Composition
Real organisational workflows are compositions of component workflows, each separately allocated to one cognitive pattern. The composition principle defuses the objection that a complex workflow cannot fit a single pattern.
Workflow
A bounded slice of organisational work, the unit at which the framework is applied
A workflow is a bounded slice of organisational work defined by its inputs, outputs, decisions, supervision and accountability. Workflows compose: real ones are composites of component workflows, each separately allocated to one of the four cognitive patterns.
Overview
Workflow is the framework's unit of application
- Patterns, aspects and phases describe the cognitive shape of work. Workflows are where that shape lives. The framework's claim that one pattern fits each workflow is what makes the abstractions practical, and the workflow is the unit at which pattern, aspect and phase analyses combine into something a practitioner can act on.
- A workflow can be coarse (a function-level operation like underwriting or claims-handling) or fine (a single underwriting decision). The term names a scope of analysis rather than a fixed granularity.
- Composition is the load-bearing principle that lets workflows nest. The engagement-level disciplines of mapping and selection live in the methodology layer because they belong to the consulting practice rather than to the anatomy itself.
Composition
The load-bearing principle that lets workflows nest
Composition decomposes a workflow into component sub-workflows, each separately allocated to one of the four cognitive patterns.
Contact
Want to talk through a specific workflow in your organisation?
Reach out for a conversation about the workflow's shape, how it composes into component workflows and which pattern fits each component.
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