A free, quick self-check before you commit budget to a full transformation — 5 minutes, three components, no email required to read it.
Before formalising a capability heatmap engagement, use this to get an early read on how ready your organisation actually is. It’s organised around the same three components the full Capability Method checks capability by capability: Platforms & Tools, Business Processes, and People & Competencies — with people split into skills, culture and organisation, because that is where most transformations stall. Answer honestly — this is for you, not for us.
Platforms & Tools
- We know, without guessing, which systems will need to change and which will stay as-is.
- We have a single source of truth for the master data the transformation depends on.
- We can tell today which of our current tools nobody actually uses.
Business Processes
- We’ve mapped the processes that will change, not just the systems.
- We know which processes are similar enough across teams to standardise, and which genuinely need to stay different.
- Someone owns each process end-to-end — not just the parts inside one department.
People & Competencies
Skills
- We know which new skills the transformation requires, by role — not just “training will be needed.”
- We have a plan for who builds those skills internally versus who we bring in.
- We can name who, today, could actually run the new way of working without help.
Culture
- Our leaders talk about the transformation the same way in the boardroom and on the floor.
- People trust that raising a problem with the new way of working won’t be read as resistance.
- We’ve had at least one open, honest conversation about what we’re giving up, not just what we’re gaining.
Organisation
- Decision rights for the new way of working are clear — who can change what, and who has to ask.
- We’ve thought about org structure, not just roles and titles.
- There’s a plan for what happens to the people whose jobs genuinely change or disappear.
What Your Answers Mean
Mostly checked — you’re genuinely ready to formalise this. A capability heatmap will tell you exactly where to focus first, instead of everywhere at once.
A mixed picture — normal, and worth knowing before wider budget is committed. Some components are solid, others aren’t — a scoped heatmap on the weak components usually pays for itself before the full programme starts.
Mostly unchecked — better to know this now than twelve months into the programme, when it’s expensive and political to say out loud.
Next Step
This checklist gives you a feel for where the gaps might be. Insight, the first of our four packages, turns that feeling into something checkable — a measured baseline on your own records, scored against the capabilities that matter, chosen from 165 across 11 domains. See the packages →
