Bill Canady explains how to build an organizational structure that turns strategy into action. Use 80/20 analysis to focus on customers and products that drive growth, and make hard personnel decisions rather than just adding responsibilities to existing roles. Exit your first 100 days with a written org chart and team plan for the next 3 to 5 years.
Step 3, build the structure. All 4 steps taken the first 100 days move towards creation of a business plan and an action plan. Step 3, build the structure, is the heart of the business. In step 4, we'll launch the action plan to begin executing the strategy. Of course, the business plan at this point is an early partial iteration subject to changes as the plan is tested against reality of the next 3 to 5 years. The structure that emerges from step 3 is designed to transform the strategy outlined in step 2, create the strategy, into an actionable plan. The vehicle transformation is an 80/20 analysis that organizes the business into segments to create the optimum focus on only those customers and products that will yield strategic growth. This is where I see most companies begin to fail. They get clarity around the goal and have a great strategy, but fail to organize the company in a meaningful way to give the strategy a fighting chance. Everyone just gets a new job in addition to their old job. It's a prescription for burnout. Expect to find some of your team will not make the journey with you. They can't or won't change, or maybe just can't change fast enough. Whatever it is, you should be prepared to make that decision. To be perfectly candid, this will be the most painful time of the journey. Change is hard. The greatest gift you can give them is transition them to a new role, even if it's outside the company. And interesting at this point is those who won't or can't make the change, when I've talked to many of them through the years, it's allowed them to go to a new role where they can be genuinely happy. Versus trying to make them fit themselves into something they're just not comfortable with. Don't expect this to be easy on anyone, you or them. Now, you should expect to exit this session with a clear plan of how the organization and team will look at the end of the 100 days. You may continue to experience some settling across the team, but the plan will most likely stick. Remember, a plan written down is 50% executed. As you go through this journey, you're going to find that these things get a little more challenging, a little harder, right, as you bring the organization together. But But the most interesting part of it is the organization starts to gel. They get it. They understand. They know that you're here for some reason that is beyond anyone sitting in that room. And if they're going to take and save this company, save those jobs, make sure that people get exceptional opportunities, that suppliers are treated with dignity and respect, that customers are put forward as first, as your investors get a superior return, they know they're going to have to come together if they're going to make that happen. The roots of all that come out of this meeting. So, make sure you go out there, you organize it, and you prepare to make changes so folks can go out, do those jobs, look after each other. Thank you so much.
