I once worked for a firm that reorganized every April. You could set your watch by it.
Nothing important or innovative happened from January to June.
Even at my young age, it was clear after a couple of cycles that the reorganization was a political chess game that had no basis in strategy or operational effectiveness. It was an ego battle of the most powerful players. The employees were the pawns. Customers and shareholders were the victims.
Most restructuring efforts are little more than a real life business version of Game of Thrones. That’s too bad, because “structure” is a powerful tool for creating value. Not the lines and boxes, but the alignment of superpowers with opportunities.
Most restructuring efforts are little more than a real life business version of Game of Thrones Share on XI had a habit of futzing with my structure. I apologize to those I drove crazy on occasion. I didn’t always get it right the first or second time. However, good, patient and motivated people always helped us get it right eventually. And when superpowers aligned with opportunities, the world was ours for a few moments in time.
If your restructuring efforts don’t focus on bringing superpowers to opportunities, it is mostly b.s.
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Good one, Art! This quote is often attributed to Petronius (210 B.C.), an arbiter in the court of Nero: “We trained hard … but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing, and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralization.” Cheers, Todd Ordal