Created by Harald Lavric
The GRIFFOX Layered Cake Model™
Connecting change initiatives, daily operations, and enterprise decisions
The GLCM helps organizations structure an individual change, connect it with the operational units that must
make it work, and give leaders a clearer picture of what multiple changes are doing to the organization.
It is not another fixed sequence of change activities. It is a recursive organizational model for keeping
intention, implementation, evidence, learning, and decisions connected.
A project can succeed while the organization becomes overloaded.
The GLCM in one minute
Change does not happen in a project plan alone
People still serve customers, run systems, make decisions, and absorb other initiatives while a change is
being implemented. Each project may appear manageable on its own even when their combined effects create
capacity pressure, conflicting priorities, dependencies, and operational friction.
The GLCM connects that reality across three levels. The five layers structure one change initiative.
Operational Integration connects the initiative with the units that must interpret, implement, and sustain
it. Enterprise Governance uses the resulting picture to make decisions across the organization.
The architecture is topic-neutral. It can support public- and private-sector organizations wherever change
must move from strategic intention into workable and sustainable practice.
The same three levels—carried through the architecture
One change, its operational reality, and the enterprise picture
The numbers introduced at the top remain the same throughout the model. Each level answers a different
question, and the value comes from keeping them connected.
- 01
Change initiativeWhat are we changing, and how will we structure the work?
The five recursive layers help people understand the present reality, establish an appropriate
framework, implement, learn, adjust, and work toward a meaningful outcome.- Begin with the reality the organization already carries.
- Keep reflection and recalibration active throughout the change.
- Recognize that every outcome changes the next starting point.
- 02
Operational integrationHow will the change become workable in daily operations?
Affected teams, departments, business units, and other operational units interpret the change within
their own context. This makes capacity, dependencies, friction, risk, and local learning visible.- Translate strategic direction into operationally workable action.
- See interactions across unit boundaries and concurrent initiatives.
- Move operational evidence upward without removing local ownership.
- 03
Enterprise governanceWhat do leaders need to understand and decide across the organization?
Signals from initiatives and operations are synthesized so leaders can see cumulative load,
dependencies, risks, competing priorities, and the organizational effects of change.- Connect bottom-up experience with top-down direction.
- Interpret patterns rather than relying on isolated reports.
- Support enterprise decisions while accountability remains with leadership.
The connecting logic
Direction moves downward. Operational evidence moves upward.
The movement is not merely linear. Decisions change operational reality, experience creates new evidence,
and the resulting learning may require an initiative or enterprise direction to be adjusted. That recurring
connection is what keeps the three levels from becoming separate management systems.
Level 01 · The initiative-level model
Five layers, connected recursively
The five layers give one change initiative a common structure. They are not a rigid sequence, and they do
not eliminate judgment. Evidence, reflection, and learning remain active throughout the model.
An achieved Goal changes organizational reality. New capabilities, experiences, relationships, risks,
expectations, and ways of working become part of the Foundation for what happens next.
-
Foundation & Experience
Understand the present reality and what the organization already carries into the change. -
Framework
Create the structure, boundaries, responsibilities, and approach needed to move forward. -
Implementation
Translate direction into action within the operational context where change must work. -
Recalibration
Review evidence, learn from what is happening, and adjust the course while the outcome is still being pursued. -
Goal
Reach a meaningful outcome that changes the starting point for what comes next.
Recursive by design
The Goal becomes part of the next Foundation. The organization never returns to exactly the same starting point.
Level 02 · Evidence in context
How do you know change is becoming workable?
No single KPI, survey, or project report can answer that question. The GLCM brings different forms of
evidence into context so people can distinguish activity from adoption, operational impact, meaningful
progress, and emerging risk.
- Outcomes & performance
- Operational results
- Capacity & workload
- Adoption & behavior
- Risk & quality
- Surveys & experience
Measures become useful when they form a credible picture and inform a decision, action, and further learning.
Working with GRIFFOX
Start with one real change situation
A conversation does not need to begin with every part of the model. It can begin where several initiatives
affect the same teams, capacity is becoming difficult to see, or project reports and operational experience
are producing different pictures.
A practical first step
Describe the situation as it actually exists
An initial conversation is exploratory. Its purpose is to understand what is happening and determine
whether the GLCM perspective can add value before any engagement is defined.
Integrative by design
A broader frame—not a universal replacement
The GLCM does not replace project management, established change approaches, risk management, Lean, or
other disciplines. It provides an organizational architecture in which the right disciplines can remain
connected with operations and enterprise decisions.
What it provides
An organizational frame
- A common structure across three connected levels.
- Operational ownership within clear boundaries.
- A way to connect evidence, learning, and decisions.
What it does not claim
One answer for every change
- It does not prescribe one method for every situation.
- It does not provide universal thresholds or decision rules.
- It does not remove the need for leadership judgment.
Origins, evidence, and development
Created from practice—and still developing
Harald Lavric developed the GLCM from more than thirty years of work across customer service, auditing,
organizational development, compliance, risk management, leadership, and change. The five-layer model grew
from the need to make complex organizational reality easier to see and discuss.
The wider Enterprise Architecture is a more recent conceptual synthesis. It is informed by professional
experience, established theory, and integrative reasoning, but it has not yet been empirically validated as
a complete architecture. Its usefulness will depend on context, application, and leadership quality.
This website presents the authoritative public overview. Detailed repositories, assessment instruments,
thresholds, decision rules, and implementation resources remain reserved for the developing book, future
publications, and applied consulting work.
Questions about the model
A concise guide to the GLCM
The public overview explains the architecture without publishing every tool, assessment, repository, or
decision rule being developed around it.
What is the GLCM in plain language?
It is a model for connecting one change initiative with the operational units that must make it work and
the enterprise decisions that shape the wider change system.
Is it another step-by-step change-management method?
No. The five layers provide structure, but the GLCM is recursive rather than a fixed sequence of
activities. It helps connect responsibilities, evidence, learning, and decisions across organizational levels.
What is a Change Unit?
A Change Unit is an affected team, department, business unit, or other organizational unit that interprets
and implements change within its operational context while observing effects, learning, and making
contextual decisions within agreed boundaries.
How does the GLCM approach measurement?
It treats performance measures, operational data, surveys, interviews, observation, risk information, and
experience as evidence that must be interpreted together and in context. It does not assume that one
universal KPI or adoption score can explain whether change is becoming workable.
Has the complete Enterprise Architecture been empirically validated?
Not as a complete architecture. It is a developing conceptual synthesis informed by professional
experience, established theory, and integrative reasoning. Application and further evaluation are part of
the work ahead.
Continue the conversation
Start with the part closest to your work
What must become workable in daily operations? What are teams seeing that individual project reports cannot
show? Which decisions belong at the enterprise level?
You can also explore GRIFFOX insights.
GRIFFOX Layered Cake Model™ · Created by Harald Lavric · © 2026 GRIFFOX Consulting