In forty-three years of practice, I have watched more restructurings fail in the boardroom than on the shop floor. They fail because the leaders who authorize them have not asked themselves three questions.
1. What am I solving that a reorg cannot solve?
Reorganizations move boxes. They rarely repair trust, clarify strategy, or change a leadership culture that has stopped delivering. If the underlying problem is one of those three, an org chart will not touch it.
“An org chart is a description of a decision, not a substitute for one.”
2. Who will I lose that I cannot afford to lose?
Every restructuring has an invisible second wave: voluntary departures in the six months following. Identify the five people whose exit would be a structural loss, and have the conversation with them before the announcement, not after.
3. Am I the right person to lead what comes next?
This is the question I am paid to make leaders sit with. Sometimes the honest answer is no. That is also a form of awareness.
