Commonplace

Commonplace Example: Organisation Capability Map

Overview

A capability map is a visual representation of what an organization can do, organized in a hierarchical structure. It helps organizations understand their current abilities, identify gaps, and plan strategic improvements.

Commonplace provides an ideal platform for creating and managing capability maps due to its flexible card-based system and powerful querying capabilities. This example demonstrates how to use Commonplace to build, visualize, and analyze an organizational capability map.

What it does

This example shows how to:

  • Create a structured capability model using Commonplace cards and collections
  • Organize capabilities into logical groups
  • Track maturity levels and improvement priorities
  • Query and visualize the capability map in different ways
  • Plan capability improvements over time

Implementation

Schemas

We'll create two primary schemas:

  1. Capability Schema

    • Name: The capability's name
    • Description: What this capability enables the organization to do
    • Current Maturity: Current level (1-5 scale)
    • Target Maturity: Desired future level (1-5 scale)
    • Priority: Importance of improving this capability (High/Medium/Low)
    • Owner: Person or team responsible for this capability

  2. Capability Group Schema

    • Name: Group name (e.g., "Customer Management", "Product Development")
    • Description: Purpose of this capability group
    • Strategic Alignment: How this group supports organizational strategy

Creating a Capability Map

  1. Create a Capability Library

    • Build a collection of capability cards using the Capability Schema
    • Add example capabilities across different business domains
    • Each card represents a single organizational capability

  2. Build a Capability Model

    • Create a new spatial view
    • Add capability group cards to organize capabilities
    • Add capability cards to each group, either from the library or creating new ones
    • Arrange cards to show hierarchical relationships

  3. Analyze the Capability Map

    • Create query cards to filter capabilities by:
      • Maturity gaps (target vs. current)
      • Priority level
      • Ownership
    • Visualize maturity levels across capability groups

Working with the Capability Map

  • Maturity Assessment: Update current maturity levels during review cycles
  • Gap Analysis: Identify capabilities with the largest gaps between current and target states
  • Improvement Planning: Prioritize capabilities for development based on priority and gap size
  • Strategic Alignment: Ensure capability development aligns with organizational strategy

Benefits

  • Centralized View: Single source of truth for organizational capabilities
  • Visual Organization: Hierarchical structure shows relationships between capabilities
  • Dynamic Updates: Easy to update as capabilities evolve
  • Flexible Querying: Filter and analyze capabilities in multiple ways
  • Strategic Planning: Connect capability development to strategic objectives

This example demonstrates how Commonplace can be used as a powerful tool for strategic organizational planning and capability management.