Coming soon · Book Profile
Designing Your Organization
A practical guide arguing that different business strategies require deliberately different organizational designs, and showing how to align structure, processes, rewards, and people to build the capabilities needed to execute five common complex strategies.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
Building on the Star Model developed over thirty years by Jay Galbraith, this book equips leaders and organization design practitioners to solve the five most vexing design challenges facing modern firms: organizing around customers, operating across borders, making a matrix work, resolving the centralization-decentralization dilemma, and organizing for innovation. Rather than offering fads or one-size-fits-all templates, the authors ground every recommendation in contingency and complementary-systems theory: strategy dictates the organizational capabilities a firm must excel at, and those capabilities become the criteria for choosing among complementary sets of structures, processes, metrics, rewards, and people practices. With rich company examples (Cemex, IBM, Procter & Gamble, MeadWestvaco, Northwest Guaranty), assessment tools, and clear step-wise reasoning, the book teaches leaders to manage complexity deliberately, use lateral connections as strategic levers, and treat organization design as an ongoing process rather than a periodic reorganization event.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- A business leader or organization design/HR practitioner who wants to build an organization capable of executing a complex, third-generation strategy and gaining competitive advantage.
- The problem
- Their current organization is a barrier rather than an enabler to executing complex strategies involving customers, geographies, matrices, scale, and innovation. They feel overwhelmed by organizational complexity, frustrated by silos and politics, and uncertain whether to centralize, matrix, or reorganize.
- The plan
- Articulate strategy and translate it into no more than five differentiating organizational capabilities as design criteria.
- Diagnose which of the five challenges you face and how far along the relevant spectrum your strategy requires you to be.
- Choose complementary structures, processes, lateral connections, rewards, and people practices aligned to those capabilities.
- Build lateral capability by evolving from networks to teams to integrative roles to matrix, using the lightest touch needed.
- Treat the change as a project with a decision framework, goals, milestones, transition management, and participative change management.
- The payoff
- An organization that is an enabler, not a barrier, so employees can easily make the right decisions and focus energy on customers and innovation. · The ability to reconfigure quickly around opportunities and threats, gaining competitive advantage over slower rivals. · Successful execution of complex strategies—customer solutions, global coordination, matrix integration, balanced centralization, and organic growth.
See our guide
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Additional reading
- The Organism · Kurt Goldstein
Maslow sources the term 'self-actualization' from Goldstein and builds upon his holistic view of the organism.
- Explorations in Personality · H. A. Murray, et al.
Cited as providing an 'excellent discussion' on the basic principle of centering motivation theory on goals rather than instigation or behavior.
- Social Interest · Alfred Adler
Maslow credits Adler and his followers for stressing the importance of the 'esteem needs,' which he felt were neglected by Freudian psychoanalysts.
- Wisdom of the Body · W. B. Cannon
Provides the foundational concept of 'homeostasis,' which Maslow uses as the starting point for his discussion of physiological needs.
- Multipliers · Liz Wiseman
Explores how leaders can either amplify ('multiply') or diminish ('diminish') the intelligence and capabilities of their teams, a key concept for creating a positive, low-anxiety environment.
- The Fearless Organization · Amy Edmondson
Provides the foundational research and practical steps for creating psychological safety, which the book identifies as crucial for reducing interpersonal anxiety and encouraging people to speak up.
- Mindset · Carol Dweck
Explains the difference between a 'growth mindset' and a 'fixed mindset,' which is presented as a key tool for helping employees manage perfectionism and see failures as learning opportunities.
- Crucial Conversations · Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, et al.
Recommended as a resource for employees to learn how to navigate difficult, high-stakes conversations, directly addressing the book's theme of moving from conflict avoidance to healthy debate.
- Better Allies · Karen Catlin
The author is quoted on specific, actionable steps for allyship, making her book a practical guide for implementing the principles in Chapter 7.
- Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People · Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald
Explains the science of implicit bias, which is central to the book's argument that leaders need to be proactive allies because 'not being racist/sexist' isn't enough.