Operational Excellence Maturity Model

A diagnostic of how well your organization is designed to improve

Most maturity models measure activity.
This one diagnoses the system.

The COPEX Operational Excellence Maturity Model evaluates whether an organization is structurally capable of absorbing improvement without relying on heroics, relaunches, or tool proliferation.

What this model is and what it is not

This model is not:

• A checklist of tools

• A certification ladder

• A training maturity curve

• A compliance scorecard

It does not reward:

• Event volume

• Project counts

• Tool usage

• Activity without impact

Instead, it evaluates the design of the operating system that improvement runs on.

The core insight behind the model

Improvement does not fail. Systems reject it.

Organizations rarely fail to improve.
They fail to sustain improvement.

When improvement is introduced into a system that is not designed to absorb it, the system responds predictably:

• Local gains appear

• Tension increases

• Tradeoffs surface

• The system resets

The result is a cycle of enthusiasm, fatigue, and relaunch.

The maturity model exists to expose where and why this happens.

What the model evaluates

The COPEX Operational Excellence Maturity Model evaluates five interdependent dimensions.
These dimensions are assessed together because improving one in isolation creates suboptimization.

1. Direction & Strategic Coherence

Evaluates whether the organization has a clear, shared direction that translates into consistent priorities and decisions at every level.

2. Leadership & Decision Systems

Assesses how leaders actually operate:

• How decisions are made

• What behaviors are reinforced

• How tradeoffs are resolved

Not intent. Behavior.

3. Daily Management & Standardization

Examines whether work is stabilized enough to improve:

• Clear standards

• Visual control

• Problem escalation

• Consistent management routines

Without this, improvement has no foundation.

4. Improvement Routines & Learning Loops

Evaluates whether improvement is:

• Structured

• Repeatable

• Embedded into daily work

Not dependent on events or specialists.

5. Governance & Sustainability

Assesses whether improvement survives:

• Leadership changes

• Performance pressure

• Organizational growth

This dimension determines whether gains compound or decay.

What the model reveals

The maturity model makes visible:

• Where performance is constrained by design

• Why improvement stalls despite activity

• Which leadership behaviors reinforce the current system

• What must change first and what should not

It replaces opinion, politics, and assumptions with a shared diagnostic language.

How the model is used

The model is used to:

• Diagnose current reality at the system level

• Align leadership on constraints and priorities

• Prevent tool-driven suboptimization

• Define transformation sequencing

It is not used to “rate” organizations.
It is used to design better ones.

From diagnosis to design

The maturity model is the first step.

It identifies what the system can and cannot absorb today.

That diagnosis informs:

• System redesign

• Leadership operating changes

• Management system architecture

• Capability development sequencing

This is why the maturity model precedes any training, coaching, or rollout.

See your system clearly

If your organization is busy but performance is flat, the issue is not effort.

It is design.

The COPEX Operational Excellence Maturity Model exists to make that visible.

Join the Live Operational Excellence Diagnostic →