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docs: improve objective pages with consistent tone
- Update all objective pages with punchy, direct writing style - Fix admonition syntax in modularity.md - Fix broken image link in align-with-business-strategy.md - Add Use Case Tree connections and See Also sections Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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‎docs/index.md‎

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---
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<div class="hero-container" markdown="1">
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<div class="ekgf-hero" markdown="1">
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# Use Case Tree Method
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Deliver strategic business value and agility through connected
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enterprise knowledge — one use case at a time.
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<div class="hero-buttons">
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<div class="ekgf-hero-buttons">
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<a href="concept/use-case-tree/" class="md-button md-button--primary">Explore the Use Case Tree</a>
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<a href="https://catalog.ekgf.org/" class="md-button">Browse example use cases</a>
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<a href="https://catalog.ekgf.org/use-case/" class="md-button">Browse example use cases</a>
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</div>
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</div>
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## Built for Business Outcomes
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<div class="benefit-grid">
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<div class="benefit-card-custom" style="background-image: url('https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1517048676732-d65bc937f952?auto=format&fit=crop&w=600&q=80');">
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<div class="benefit-card-custom-content">
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<div class="ekgf-card-grid">
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<div class="ekgf-image-card" style="background-image: url('https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1517048676732-d65bc937f952?auto=format&fit=crop&w=600&q=80');">
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<div class="ekgf-image-card-content">
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<strong>Business-owned roadmap</strong>
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<p>Align strategy → capabilities → delivery with one shared artifact.</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="benefit-card-custom" style="background-image: url('https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1581091226825-a6a2a5aee158?auto=format&fit=crop&w=600&q=80');">
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<div class="benefit-card-custom-content">
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<div class="ekgf-image-card" style="background-image: url('https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1581091226825-a6a2a5aee158?auto=format&fit=crop&w=600&q=80');">
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<div class="ekgf-image-card-content">
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<strong>Composable delivery</strong>
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<p>Ship small, reusable building blocks instead of monolithic systems.</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="benefit-card-custom" style="background-image: url('https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1554224155-6726b3ff858f?auto=format&fit=crop&w=600&q=80');">
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<div class="benefit-card-custom-content">
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<div class="ekgf-image-card" style="background-image: url('https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1554224155-6726b3ff858f?auto=format&fit=crop&w=600&q=80');">
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<div class="ekgf-image-card-content">
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<strong>Quality + compliance</strong>
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<p>Make traceability, controls, and auditability part of the design.</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="benefit-card-custom" style="background-image: url('https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1550751827-4bd374c3f58b?auto=format&fit=crop&w=600&q=80');">
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<div class="benefit-card-custom-content">
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<div class="ekgf-image-card" style="background-image: url('https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1550751827-4bd374c3f58b?auto=format&fit=crop&w=600&q=80');">
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<div class="ekgf-image-card-content">
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<strong>Production-proven</strong>
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<p>A method refined across real EKG use cases running in production.</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="landing-explanatory-section" markdown="1">
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<div class="ekgf-highlight-section" markdown="1">
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## What is the Use Case Tree Method?
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‎docs/objective/align-with-business-strategy.md‎

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- EKG method
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- enterprise knowledge graph
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- capability planning
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schema_type: "Article"
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schema_type: Article
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---
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# Align with Business Strategy
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<!--summary-end-->
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Creating an agreed and realistic strategic roadmap that is aligned to
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_business strategy_ is hard. Most---if not all---large enterprises are
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complex and consist of many _lines of business_ (LOBs) where each
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business has its own "business identity" and therefore its own long
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term strategy. Each of these organizational divisions has its own
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agenda.
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Large enterprises are complex. Multiple lines of business, each with its
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own identity, its own strategy, its own agenda. Getting them aligned on
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anything is a political minefield.
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The [Use Case Tree](../concept/use-case-tree.md) is the single
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artifact that all lines of business can talk to.
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Yet without alignment, you get duplication, contradiction, and waste.
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Every department builds its own solutions. Data doesn't flow. Knowledge
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stays siloed. The enterprise as a whole is less than the sum of its parts.
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## Business Capability Map
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The [Use Case Tree](../concept/use-case-tree.md) is the single artifact
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that all lines of business can talk to. One shared structure. One source
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of truth for what the organization is trying to accomplish.
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At the highest levels, the
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[Use Case Tree](../concept/use-case-tree.md) will end up being
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identical---or almost identical---to a _business capability map_.
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## Business Capability Maps: Good Idea, Poor Execution
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Here's an example of a simplified capability map of an insurance
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company (taken from the article mentioned as source 1 below):
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Most large organizations have an Enterprise Architecture or Business
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Architecture department that maintains a *business capability map*—a
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hierarchical view of what the organization does.
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![x](https://bizzdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Business-Capability-Map-Blue.png)
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Here's an example of a capability map with applications mapped to it
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(from BiZZdesign):
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Most large organizations have an Enterprise Architecture or Business
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Architecture department that works on these models but in many cases:
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- these capability maps are just maintained as pictures or
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spreadsheets and therefore
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- often out of sync with reality
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- not really fully ingrained in the hearts and minds of the
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workforce
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- they are usually:
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- not represented in production-level systems and if they are then
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they are:
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- not represented in user interfaces (text may look the same but
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doesn't dynamically change when the capability map changes)
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- not represented in APIs (parameters, returned data structures etc)
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- not represented in data models
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- they have bad linkage with similar hierarchical structures such as:
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- the organizational unit structure and reporting lines
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- the product and services catalog
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- the actual business processes
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- the actual internal data, technology, products and services supply
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chains
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## Next-level Capability Map
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The [Use Case Tree](../concept/use-case-tree.md) serves as the next
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level in Business Capability Mapping where each capability gets broken
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down into smaller capabilities each of which ends up as an executable
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model --- or component or model so you will --- in the EKG itself.
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![Business Capability Map](https://bizzdesign.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/business-capability-map-with-applications.webp)
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In theory, these maps align strategy to execution. In practice:
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- **They're just pictures** - Maintained in PowerPoint or Visio,
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disconnected from reality
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- **Nobody uses them** - Pretty diagrams that live in SharePoint folders,
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never opened after the initial workshop
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- **No connection to systems** - The capability map says one thing, the
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actual systems do another
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- **No connection to data** - APIs, data models, and interfaces don't
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reflect the capability structure
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- **No connection to processes** - The actual work flows differently than
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the boxes suggest
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The capability map becomes shelf-ware. A planning artifact that has no
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impact on execution.
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## The Use Case Tree: Capability Map That Executes
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The [Use Case Tree](../concept/use-case-tree.md) takes the business
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capability map concept and makes it *executable*.
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At the highest levels, the Use Case Tree looks identical to a capability
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map—the same hierarchical structure of what the organization does. But
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it goes further:
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- **Each capability breaks down into use cases** - Concrete, deliverable
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units of business value
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- **Each use case has stories, outcomes, concepts** - Real requirements,
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not abstract boxes
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- **The structure lives in the EKG** - Not a picture, but a model that
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systems actually use
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- **Changes propagate** - Update the structure, and downstream systems
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reflect it
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This is the next level: a capability map that doesn't just describe what
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the organization does, but actually *drives* what the organization does.
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## From Politics to Progress
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When every line of business can see their priorities in the same
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structure—when they can trace from strategic goals to concrete
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deliverables—alignment becomes possible.
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Not easy. Still political. But possible.
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The Use Case Tree doesn't eliminate organizational complexity. It makes
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the complexity visible, navigable, and actionable.
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## See Also
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- [Use Case Tree](../concept/use-case-tree.md)
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- [Manage Expectations](manage-expectations.md)
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- [Avoid Boiling the Ocean](avoid-boiling-the-ocean.md)
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## Sources
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1. [Marc Lankhorst, Sven van Dijk, What are Business Capabilities & How to Identify them?](https://bizzdesign.com/blog/what-are-business-capabilities/)
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1. [Marc Lankhorst, Sven van Dijk - What are Business Capabilities & How to Identify them?](https://bizzdesign.com/blog/what-are-business-capabilities/)
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2. [Business Capability Models: Why You Might Be Missing Out on Better Business Outcomes](https://www.architectureandgovernance.com/strategy-planning/business-capability-models-might-missing-better-business-outcomes/)

‎docs/objective/avoid-boiling-the-ocean.md‎

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- EKG method
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schema_type: Article
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# Avoid "boiling the ocean"
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<!--summary-end-->
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One of the most important goals for creating the Use Case Tree Method
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was--and still is--to tackle a phenomenon that we see happen often in
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almost all knowledge graph initiatives which we can most easily
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describe as "people are trying to boil the ocean".
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It is human nature to try to simplify things by creating a logical
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boundary around a given set of problems that need to be solved. That's
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one important driver behind the creation of more and more silos in an
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organization.
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However, with a Knowledge Graph, and especially an Enterprise
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Knowledge Graph, the idea might exist that all information is linked,
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everything comes together in one place (not necessarily a physical
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place btw) and all applications are now called use cases that all work
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with the same "giant database" that runs somewhere in the cloud i.e.
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"the EKG".
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Where to begin? What to do when?
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It turns out that many people simply start doing what they like to do
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best. For some that's about focussing on ontologies that model the
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whole world. For others, it's about focussing on discussions about
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performance and database technology. And so forth. All of those
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activities are eventually all necessary but not all from day one.
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Don't lose sight for the forest for the trees.
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In an EKG context, it becomes even more important than ever before to
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create focus, to have managed expectations, to not waste time on
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things that are not important just yet, to keep the eye on the ball
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which is to keep delivering real business value to real end-users
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continuously.
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The [Use Case Tree](../concept/use-case-tree.md) avoids the
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boil-the-ocean-phenomenon because the Use Case Tree and its individual
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use cases define an agreed scope at the detail level without becoming
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technical immediately.
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First focus on _**"the why and the what"**_ (to deliver), then keep
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adding specialists and let them add their detailed information to your
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use cases until it gets delivered. In fact, at higher levels of
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maturity, adding all these details will lead to higher levels of
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automation of the software development and delivery process itself
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leading to "executable models" where no programming is even required
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anymore
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was—and still is—to tackle a phenomenon we see in almost every knowledge
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graph initiative: **people trying to boil the ocean**.
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## The Silo Instinct
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It's human nature to simplify by drawing boundaries. That instinct drives
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the creation of silos—neat boxes around problems that feel manageable.
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But with an Enterprise Knowledge Graph, the promise is different:
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everything connects, all information lives in one logical place, and
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applications become "use cases" working against a shared foundation.
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Suddenly the boundaries blur.
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Where do you begin? What do you do when?
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## Everyone Does What They Like
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Without clear guidance, people default to what they enjoy:
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- **Ontologists** start modeling the entire universe
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- **Architects** dive into database technology and performance debates
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- **Data engineers** build pipelines for data nobody asked for yet
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- **Developers** prototype features that aren't on any roadmap
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All of these activities are eventually necessary—but not all from day one.
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Don't lose sight of the forest for the trees.
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## Focus is Everything
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In an EKG context, focus becomes more critical than ever:
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- [Manage expectations](manage-expectations.md) ruthlessly
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- Don't waste time on things that aren't important yet
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- Keep the eye on the ball: **deliver real business value to real
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end-users, continuously**
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The [Use Case Tree](../concept/use-case-tree.md) prevents boiling the
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ocean by defining agreed scope at the right level of detail—without
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getting technical prematurely.
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## Strip Out the Noise
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People have a habit of dragging in irrelevant topics:
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- Database schema design
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- Page layouts and screen mockups
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- API specifications
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- Technology stack debates
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- "How we've always done it"
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Or they can't escape their current world—only thinking in terms of what
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already exists, proposing minor improvements to the status quo. Thinking
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out of the box is rare. Most people aren't empowered to do it, and those
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who are often don't know where to start.
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The Use Case Tree method strips all of this out. No databases. No screens.
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No technology. Just crystal clear focus on actual business requirements,
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in almost plain English:
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- **[Outcomes](../concept/outcome/index.md)** - What value are we delivering?
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- **[Stories](../concept/story.md)** - Who needs what and why?
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- **[Concepts](../concept/concept/index.md)** - What things are we talking about?
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- **[Workflows](../concept/workflow.md)** - How does work actually flow?
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- **A name** - What do we call this use case?
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That's it. And that's already hard enough.
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## The Why and What Before the How
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First focus on **"the why and the what"**—what business value are we
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delivering and to whom?
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Then—and only then—progressively add specialists who contribute their
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detailed knowledge to each use case until it ships. At higher levels of
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maturity, these structured details enable increasing automation of
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software development itself—moving toward executable models where
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traditional programming becomes unnecessary
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([low-code/no-code delivery](https://www.techtarget.com/searchsoftwarequality/definition/low-code-no-code-development-platform)).
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The Use Case Tree provides focus for the Center of Excellence (CoE),
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enabling it to "crank out" use cases one by one, according to the
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agreed roadmap that is
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## Crank Out Use Cases
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The Use Case Tree gives the [CoE](../vocab/coe.md) the focus to deliver
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use cases one by one, following a roadmap
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[aligned with business strategy](align-with-business-strategy.md).
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Each delivered use case:
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- Proves value to stakeholders
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- Builds reusable components for the next use case
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- Accelerates future delivery through
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[positive learning](../vocab/positive-learning.md)
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- Maintains momentum and credibility
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The alternative—trying to build everything at once—leads to projects that
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run for years, burn through budgets, and deliver nothing until "it's all
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done" (which it never is).
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## See Also
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- [Use Case Tree](../concept/use-case-tree.md)
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- [Manage Expectations](manage-expectations.md)
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- [Modularity](modularity.md)
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- [Positive Learning](../vocab/positive-learning.md)

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