Microfoundations

Microfoundations are the small routines, rules and repeated behaviours that make an organisational capability real in daily work. They are the practical layer between strategic intention and observable execution.

In brief

A company does not become more capable because it declares a new value, launches a project or writes a policy. Capability becomes real through repeated micro-behaviours: who checks what, when a decision is made, what evidence is used, which exception stops the flow, how a handoff is completed.

Microfoundations are small, but they are not minor. They are where change either becomes habit or evaporates.

Operational definition

A microfoundation is a repeatable behaviour, rule or artefact that supports a larger capability.

Examples include a weekly review ritual, a required field before release, a discount threshold, a definition of done, a stop rule, a standard checklist, a decision register or a WIP limit.

It must be observable. If nobody can see whether it happened, it is not yet a microfoundation.

Why it matters for SMEs

SMEs often try to change through announcements: “we need more accountability”, “we must be more structured”, “we need better delegation”. These statements are too large to execute.

Microfoundations translate them into behaviour. Accountability becomes one Accountable per activity. Delegation becomes a threshold. Structure becomes a review ritual. Quality becomes a definition of done.

This makes change smaller, testable and easier to sustain.

Observable signals

Look for broad intentions without repeated behaviours.

Look for changes that are understood but not enacted.

Look for meetings where decisions are made but no ritual reinforces them.

Look for tools introduced without the micro-behaviours needed to use them.

Look for improvements that disappear after a few weeks.

Common mistakes

The first mistake is staying at the level of slogans.

The second is designing behaviour that is too large or vague to observe.

The third is adding micro-routines without removing old ones.

The fourth is failing to protect the routine long enough for it to become normal.

Operational example

A company wants “better delegation”. The statement means little until it is converted into microfoundations: a table of decision thresholds, a weekly review of decisions taken inside the threshold, a rule that the founder does not reopen decisions within boundary, and a log of exceptions.

After several weeks, delegation is no longer a value. It is a repeated operating pattern.

Diagnostic questions

Which broad capability are we trying to build?

Which repeated behaviour would make it visible?

Who owns the behaviour?

What evidence shows it happened?

Which old routine will pull the organisation back?

How long must the new behaviour be protected?

Practical implications

Translate every change objective into small observable behaviours. Attach each behaviour to a role, a trigger and evidence.

Use reviews to reinforce the behaviour. Remove old routines that contradict it. Treat the first weeks as installation, not completion.

MARTRO reading

In MARTRO’s reading, microfoundations are the operational atoms of capability. They connect diagnosis to execution because they make abstract improvement observable.

They also explain why change programs fail: the programme states the objective but never installs the micro-behaviours that would make it real.

Frequently asked questions

Are microfoundations just habits? They include habits, but also rules, artefacts and rituals that make capability repeatable.

Why are they important? Because organisational change becomes real only through repeated behaviours.

How small should they be? Small enough to observe and repeat, large enough to affect the capability.

Can software be a microfoundation? A tool can support one, but the behaviour around the tool is the foundation.

How do we know one is installed? It happens repeatedly without constant managerial prompting and survives normal operating pressure.