Getting Started Worksheet

This worksheet guides you through your first steps with the Orthogramic Metamodel, helping you apply business architecture concepts to your organization. The Orthogramic Metamodel provides a structured, consistent way to describe how your organization operates, delivers value, and responds to change.

Download Option

This worksheet is available as a PDF for offline use and team workshops. Download Worksheet PDF (Link to downloadable version)

---

Part 1: Assessment & Planning

1.1 Identify Your Primary Business Challenge

Select one challenge that you'd like to address first:

• We don't know who owns or uses what across the business
• We're running too many disconnected projects
• We're making decisions without understanding the flow of value
• We're struggling to respond to external changes
• Our documentation is inconsistent and hard to analyze
• Other: _________________________________

1.2 Select Your Starting Domain

Based on your challenge, which domain would be most helpful to start with?

Domain	Best For	Select
Capabilities	Understanding what your organization can do	[ ]
Organization	Mapping structure, roles, and units	[ ]
Stakeholders	Identifying people with interest or influence	[ ]
Value Streams	Tracing end-to-end value delivery	[ ]
Strategy	Clarifying goals and objectives	[ ]
Initiatives	Rationalizing programs and projects	[ ]
Information	Managing critical data assets	[ ]
Performance	Defining measures of success	[ ]
Policy	Documenting rules and governance	[ ]
Products	Describing what you deliver	[ ]
Services	Modeling how you deliver value	[ ]

1.3 Define Your Scope

For your initial implementation, define a manageable scope:

Scope Element	Your Answer
Department/Business Unit
Key Processes (3-5 max)
Expected Timeframe

---

Part 2: Domain Mapping Exercise

Complete the section that matches your selected starting domain.

2.1 Capabilities Mapping

If starting with Capabilities, list 3-5 key capabilities:

Capability Name	Description	Owner	Organization Unit

For Data Engineers

Think of capabilities as the "what" your organization does with data:

• Data Ingestion
• Data Quality Management
• Analytics & Reporting
• Data Governance

2.2 Organization Mapping

If starting with Organization, document key units:

Organization Unit	Purpose	Owner	Key Roles

2.3 Value Stream Mapping

If starting with Value Streams, outline a key value stream:

Value Stream Name: _________________________________

Stage	Description	Inputs	Outputs	Owner	Performance Indicators
1
2
3
4
5

2.4 Stakeholder Mapping

If starting with Stakeholders, identify key stakeholders:

Stakeholder	Type	Interest Level	Requirements	Engagement Strategy
	Internal /External	High /Medium /Low
	Internal /External	High /Medium /Low
	Internal /External	High /Medium /Low
	Internal /External	High /Medium /Low

---

Part 3: Inter-Unit Domain Relationships

3.1 Identify Relationships

For your selected domain, identify relationships between organizational units:

Domain Entity	Domain Type	Unit 1	Role	Unit 2	Role	Strength (1-5)

Relationship Roles Reference:

• Owning unit — Accountable for the entity
• Providing unit — Delivers the capability/service
• Consuming unit — Uses the outputs
• Supporting unit — Provides operational support
• Custodian unit — Maintains data/information quality
• Dependent unit — Relies on the entity for operations
• Governing unit — Sets rules and oversight

---

Part 4: Strategic Response Model

4.1 Identify a Business Trigger

Select or describe a recent trigger that required strategic response:

Trigger: _________________________________

Trigger Type:

• Regulatory
• Market
• Risk
• Performance Insight
• Stakeholder Demand
• Technology Shift
• Other: _____________

4.2 Develop a Rationale

Document the reasoning behind responding to this trigger:

Element	Your Response
Rationale Title
Description
Driver Type
Priority Level	[ ] High [ ] Medium [ ] Low

4.3 Plan Response Actions

List 3-5 specific actions to address this trigger:

1. ---

2. ---

3. ---

4. ---

5. ---

4.4 Map to Affected Domains

Which domains will be impacted by this response?

Domain	Impacted?	How?
Strategy	[ ]
Capabilities	[ ]
Initiatives	[ ]
Policy	[ ]
Performance	[ ]
Services	[ ]
Information	[ ]
Value Stream	[ ]

---

Part 5: Implementation Planning

5.1 Quick Wins

List 2-3 immediate actions you can take in the next 30 days:

1. ---

2. ---

3. ---

5.2 Tools & Resources Needed

What will you need to implement your selected domain?

• Schema templates
• Documentation tools
• Stakeholder engagement
• Meeting time
• Technical infrastructure
• Data catalog integration
• Other: _________________________________

5.3 Success Metrics

How will you measure successful implementation?

Metric	Target	Timeline

5.4 Next Steps

Outline your next steps and timeline:

Action	Owner	Due Date	Status

---

Part 6: Connect to Your Data Platform

For Data Platform Teams

If you're integrating with OpenMetadata or another data catalog, complete this section.

6.1 Data Asset Mapping

Link your business architecture entities to data assets:

Business Entity	Entity Type	Related Data Asset	Asset Type	Catalog Location
	Capability		Table/Pipeline
	Value Stream		Pipeline
	Stakeholder		Owner/Team
	Policy		Tag/Classification

6.2 Ownership Alignment

Verify ownership alignment between business architecture and data catalog:

Organization Unit	Business Role	Data Domain	Catalog Owner	Aligned?
				[ ] Yes [ ] No
				[ ] Yes [ ] No
				[ ] Yes [ ] No

6.3 Integration Actions

Integration Task	Priority	Owner	Status
Map capabilities to data assets
Align stakeholders with data owners
Link policies to governance rules
Connect value streams to pipelines

---

Checklist: Before You Finish

Before completing this worksheet, ensure you have:

• Selected a primary business challenge
• Chosen a starting domain
• Defined a manageable scope
• Completed at least one domain mapping exercise
• Identified at least one inter-unit relationship
• Documented at least one trigger and response
• Listed 2-3 quick wins for the next 30 days
• Defined success metrics

---

What's Next?

1. Review the domain documentation for your selected starting domain
2. Create your first structured artefact using the JSON schema templates
3. Share with stakeholders to validate your understanding
4. Iterate and expand to additional domains as confidence grows
5. Consider integration with your data catalog or architecture tools

Helpful Resources

• Domain Documentation
• Inter-unit Relationships
• Strategic Response Model
• OpenMetadata Integration
• Contribution Guidelines

---

Questions? Join the community discussion or submit feedback through our GitHub repository.