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Executive Playbooks

The Organization Design Playbook

Designing structure around strategy — not the org chart you inherited

2 min read

Reorganizations fail when they move boxes. They succeed when they redesign how the organization creates value.

This playbook sequences organization design from strategy through structure, roles, decision rights and transition — so the new design holds under real work.

The design sequence

Seven steps — from strategy to a design that survives contact with reality.

Strategy & Design Criteria

Define what the design must optimize for — growth, speed, cost, customer or capability.

Capability Map

Identify the capabilities the organization must be great at — the true building blocks.

Structure & Grouping

Choose the operating logic — function, business unit, matrix or hybrid — deliberately.

Roles & Accountability

Define roles, spans, layers and a job architecture built for scale.

Decision Rights

Map who decides, who is consulted and where authority is delegated.

Interfaces & Coordination

Design how functions connect — the seams where value is won or lost.

Transition & Adoption

Sequence the move, manage change and measure whether the design actually holds.

Common design pitfalls