What does a good design look like?  It depends on what you’re making:  Two wheels and a set of  pedals will give you a bicycle; for a sleek high performance automobile, much more is required.  Your business model is no different.  Every part and piece will fit together gracefully only if designed to do so.  This means that your systems and procedures should be designed to reflect the size and complexity of your business.  Your training programs should be designed to make certain that staff are well equipped to deal with situations commonly facing them, both within the workplace and in external dealings with customers and the regulatory environment.  Recruiting practices and employee compensation and benefit programs should be designed to attract (and keep) the talent needed to reach strategic objectives and grow the business.

This may sound like a tedious process and it very well could be.  The alternative to designing every component of your business model?  Chance, happenstance, or “come what may.”  You might just end up with a business that is part race car, part single speed bicycle (not a very effective ride and really difficult to steer).

If having ill-fitted parts and pieces within your structure is causing you to struggle just to keep the business on the road and out of the ditch, consider a commitment to “design thinking.”  At the very least, you will engage in a process that will fine-tune your organizational model; with some effort and a little innovation, it just might transform your business.