As lead advisor, I directed an organization design engagement for a client wrestling with how to structure itself for maximum mission impact. I recruited a colleague with deep OD expertise to join me, then personally led diagnostic interviews with the CEO, board members, and a cross-section of 15 department heads and subject matter experts to surface the real decision rights, data, and cultural dynamics shaping the organization. I synthesized these findings into a set of structural options and facilitated design workshops with the client's chosen design team, while my team member developed workshop activities and drafted deliverables covering decision rights, data analysis, and change management planning.
The core challenge was a set of high-stakes trade-offs: the design team evaluated four structural models—aligning around funding sources, geography, program type, or constituent/market segment—ranging from a centralized hub to a fully federated structure. Though many assumed funding-source alignment would win out, the design team quickly rejected it because it commoditized the organization's value proposition and undercut differentiated impact. Facing tension between operational efficiency and mission fidelity, I mapped each option against the client's design criteria and strategic goals, guiding leadership to choose an organizational structure aligned to the constituent groups they exist to serve—strengthening market differentiation and positioning the organization as a uniquely efficacious, high-impact partner for funders.
Activation was staged in waves: first identifying where the new operating model could be implemented and where new leadership needed to be recruited, then supporting each workstream leader with coaching and planning on a bi-weekly and later monthly cadence as teams migrated into new structures and ways of working. I facilitated cross-workstream sessions to clarify new decision rights, ran full implementation sessions with the leadership team, and personally advised the CPO, Chief of Staff, and CEO through regular implementation conversations. Monthly pulse-check sessions with department heads allowed us to catch culture-fit issues early and adjust the change management plan in real time.
The engagement culminated in successful communication of the new organization design to the board of directors and an all-staff convening, where the design's strong alignment to the organization's purpose and strategy was clearly showcased. The result was a fully activated, constituent-aligned structure that sharpened the organization's value proposition, strengthened its efficacy narrative for funders, and was rolled out with minimal disruption thanks to embedded coaching and continuous culture monitoring throughout implementation.