Change Management Consultants

In my first role as a CHRO, I was in a boardroom with my finance head, we were surrounded by spreadsheets. Revenue per head, span ratios, productivity charts — everything looked perfect. Until one quiet voice in the corner said, “But if we move this team under that function… who owns the customer relationship” That one question changed how I’ve seen organisation design ever since. The Shift I used to think org design was about efficiency. Turns out, it’s about energy. You can optimise structures all you want — if people feel misplaced, disconnected, or unseen, the system slows down. But when design honours both data and emotion, magic happens: decisions move faster, collaboration deepens, and culture breathes again. So I stopped treating org design as a project — and started treating it like a living instrument. I have since designed my approach to align various elements of organisation design, a framework i refer to as ORG-CHORD Framework Briefly covering what it means - O – Objectives: Start with purpose. What problem are we solving — speed, scale, or synergy? R – Roles: Design for clarity. Every role should exist because it adds distinct value. G – Gravity Points: Spot the culture anchors — the people or the way we do things , that hold everything together. C – Connections : Break silos; create bridges. Design for movement, not control. H – Humane Acknowledge the emotional cost of change. Support people through transition. O – Operating Rhythm: Create cadences that sustain momentum — weekly syncs, retros, open reviews. R – Results Pulse: Track outcomes beyond cost: decision speed, energy, trust. D – Dynamic Renewal: Design is never done. Build adaptability as a core muscle. I have always seen Organisation design as a participative, iterative and collaborative process rather than a top down fix for everything. Alignment holds the key to ensuring organisations and individuals are able to transition through these. So here’s my question to you — When you’re redesigning organisations, do you lead with numbers, or with narratives? And more importantly — How do you make sure your design doesn’t just look efficient, but feels alive? Let’s talk about it #OrganisationDesign #Leadership #HRTransformation #CultureByDesign #FutureOfWork #ORGCHORDFramework

Could strategic misalignment be keeping you and your organization away from attaining maximum value? Executives and project managers are often rowing in different directions. The boat moves, but not necessarily toward value. From my doctoral research, and work with several clients, three pillars of strategic alignment consistently separate high-performing organizations from the rest: 1️⃣ Common Goals – A shared definition of success at both the strategic and operational levels. 2️⃣ Shared Language – Clear communication that bridges “executive speak” and project management terms. 3️⃣ Mutual Understanding – Executives gain insight into project realities, while PMs understand the strategic trade-offs leaders are balancing. The challenge? Most organizations talk about alignment but rarely make it a living system. That’s why I created the ALIGN™ Framework as a practical roadmap: 🪀 A – Assess the Value Chain → Define where value is created and lost. 🪀 L – Listen Across Levels → Build the “bilingual dictionary” across teams. 🪀 I – Integrate Strategy into Planning → Include PMs early in design, not just delivery. 🪀 G – Guide with Goals & Guardrails → Establish clarity with KPIs, OKRs, and constraints. 🪀 N – Navigate with Data & Confluence → Create mutual understanding with dashboards, forums, and collaboration tools. 🔑 ALIGN™ isn’t just an acronym. It’s the operating system for embedding the three pillars of Common Goals, Shared Language, and Mutual Understanding into everyday practice. When organizations apply it, strategy stops being a lofty document and becomes a lived reality. 📌 Question for you: In your organization, which of these three pillars: common goals, shared language, or mutual understanding requires the most urgent attention? Let's create the bride to ALIGN! ♻️Share to elevate others and follow🎙️Fola F. Alabi for more! #FolaElevates #StrategicLeadership #ProjectManagement #SPL #StrategicAlignment #Align #ExecutionExcellence #StrategicConfluenc

The client looked me straight in the eye and said, "We don't have a culture problem. We just need people to execute better." I nodded. Asked a few questions. Listened to the frustration in his voice. Then I spent the day with his team. What I heard wasn't resistance to execution. It was confusion about what execution actually looked like. "We're supposed to be collaborative, but decisions get made without us." "They say innovation is key, but every new idea gets shot down." "We're told to take ownership, but everything needs approval." The gap wasn't between the team and the strategy. It was between what leadership said the culture was and what people experienced every day. That client called me back three months later. Not because his people had learned to execute better. Because he'd learned to see the gap between what he was saying and what was actually happening. Once he could see it, things began to shift. That's when the real work together began. Unlocking all kinds of opportunities. The team didn't need to work harder. They needed clarity about what they were actually working toward. Sometimes the "execution problem" isn't about capability. It's about alignment. And alignment starts with closing the gap between intention and experience.

Cross-functional misalignment is the silent killer of great product strategies. But… how can you fix it? A couple of weeks ago, I asked about the biggest challenge in executing your product strategy, and many of you pointed to cross-functional misalignment. It's a concern that resonates deeply, and it's something we've been addressing with leaders in the CPO Accelerator. Why is this such a common hurdle? Misalignment often stems from the absence of a clear, shared vision. When teams like marketing, sales, and engineering are not aligned with the product vision, efforts become fragmented. This lack of unity can cause delays, wasted resources, and ultimately, products that miss the mark. To effectively tackle this, communication is key. Leaders must articulate the product strategy across all levels, ensuring every team understands how their work contributes to the bigger picture. This isn't a one-time effort but a continuous dialogue. Regular updates, town halls, and aligned roadmaps can keep everyone on the same track. Repetition is key here 🔑 Empowering product leaders with tools and processes to foster alignment is essential. This is where Product Operations can bring immense value, acting as a bridge between teams. By optimizing workflows and facilitating collaboration, Product Ops ensures that everyone moves toward the same goals without stumbling over each other. Remember, alignment doesn't mean micromanaging. It's about providing clarity, setting boundaries, and then trusting your teams to deliver results. Encourage a culture of experimentation and accountability. Allow teams to make decisions aligned with strategic outcomes, not just ticking off feature lists. By focusing on aligning teams with a shared vision and clear objectives, you can transform cross-functional misalignment from a barrier into an opportunity for collaboration and innovation. Let's make strides toward cohesive strategies that drive meaningful outcomes. How are you ensuring alignment in your organization? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Alignment is one of the most misunderstood words in leadership. Most executives believe alignment means everyone agrees on the priorities. In reality, alignment exists only when people make the same decisions when no one is watching. That's the difference between a strategy that looks good in the boardroom and one that consistently wins in the market. I've noticed that organizations rarely fail because people don't work hard. They struggle because every function develops its own definition of success. Each team is rational. Each team is optimizing. Each team is making good decisions. The problem is that they're optimizing different systems. When that happens, friction quietly becomes part of the operating model. Projects take longer. Trade-offs become political. Meetings multiply. Execution slows. Not because people lack capability. Because everyone is pulling with equal force in slightly different directions. One lesson I've learned is this: The quality of execution is determined less by how clearly priorities are communicated... ...and more by how consistently they are interpreted. That's an important distinction. Most organizations invest heavily in cascading objectives. Far fewer invest in creating a shared decision logic. The best leaders don't just communicate what matters. They define how priorities should be weighed when they inevitably compete. That creates consistency without creating bureaucracy. A useful mental model: Every organization has two operating systems. The visible one: Strategy. Goals. KPIs. Plans. And the invisible one: Assumptions. Decision rules. Trade-offs. Incentives. When the invisible operating system is misaligned, the visible one eventually breaks down. The conventional answer is to create more governance. I think the better answer is to create greater clarity. Not more meetings. Better decisions. Because organizations don't scale through communication alone. They scale through shared judgment. So here's a question worth reflecting on: If every leadership meeting disappeared tomorrow, would your teams still make decisions that move in the same direction? If the answer is no, alignment hasn't been achieved yet. The strongest organizations don't rely on constant coordination. They build systems where good decisions naturally reinforce one another. That's when strategy stops being a presentation and becomes the way the organization thinks. 💬 What's your perspective? I'd love to hear your experience in the comments. ♻️ Reshare this if you believe high-performing teams are built by design, not by chance. ➕ Follow The Mindset Challenger GmbH and Daniel Hartweg for more insights on High-Performing Team Systems. ✨ Get Bi-weekly Team Performance Insights → https://lnkd.in/d7CyPZFS

Consultants do this automatically. Enablement teams rarely do. And it's costing us. 👇 When I think about how I approach my work, I view our team as internal consultants to the revenue organization. And one of the first things any good consultant does when they walk into an engagement is map the room. Not just who's in it. But who's with you, who's against you, and how much it matters. That's what a Stakeholder Sentiment Analysis does. And it's one of the most underused tools in the enablement toolkit. Here's the framework: Every stakeholder in your world falls into one of three sentiment categories: 🟢 Champion -- Enthusiastically advocates for your work. Influences others positively. Part of the solution. They don't just support you -- they defend you in rooms you're not in. 🟡 Neutral -- Neither champions nor detracts. Could be disengaged, undecided, or genuinely hard to read. Don't mistake silence for alignment. 🔴 Detractor -- Actively blocks progress or undermines adoption. Negative multiplier effect. Part of the problem without offering solutions. But sentiment alone isn't enough. You have to pair it with sphere of influence. A detractor with low influence is very different from a detractor with high influence. A champion with limited reach can't carry your program the way a champion with org-wide influence can. That's why the real power is in the 9-box grid. Champion + High Influence? That's your program's biggest asset. Detractor + High Influence? That's your most urgent relationship to invest in. Here's how to use it: 1️⃣ Map every key stakeholder into the grid honestly -- not aspirationally 2️⃣ Identify your highest leverage relationships (Champion + High Influence first) 3️⃣ Build a deliberate plan to move Neutrals toward Champion 4️⃣ Invest in understanding what Detractors need to feel heard -- sometimes a detractor is just someone who hasn't been brought along yet One more thing worth naming: The loudest voice in the room isn't always the most important one. A Detractor with Low Influence can feel urgent because they're vocal -- they push back in meetings, complain to peers, create noise. But noise isn't the same as risk. Before you spend political capital trying to win over a Detractor -- check their sphere of influence first. Sometimes the most strategic move is to acknowledge, document and move on. Save your energy for the relationships that actually determine whether your program lives or dies. As innate people pleasers, its important we remind ourselves: the squeaky wheel doesn't always need the grease. It just needs to know it's been heard. 🎯 What's the most surprising stakeholder shift you've ever experienced -- someone who went from detractor to champion or vice versa? Drop it below. 👇 #enablemententhusiast #salesenablement #enablement #stakeholdermanagement #influencewithoutauthority 💛

Most organizations don’t fail because leaders disagree or they have bad strategies. They fail because leaders think they’re aligned when they’re not. Everyone nods in the meeting. The strategy sounds clear. The plan looks solid on paper. Then execution stalls. Decisions get revisited. Tension rises quietly. What’s happening isn’t resistance. It’s misalignment. In every engagement one truth shows up again and again: ✅️ Alignment isn’t agreement. ✅️ Alignment is shared understanding, clear ownership, and consistent follow-through. Here are 9 Alignment Check Questions Strong Leadership Teams Use Before Problems Show Up: “What does success look like to each of us?” ➡️ Reveals silent differences early. “What are we each prioritizing right now?” ➡️ Exposes competing agendas. “What decisions require collective input vs individual ownership?” ➡️ Prevents over-collaboration and bottlenecks. “Where are we relying on assumptions instead of clarity?” ➡️ Surfaces hidden risk. “What tension are we not naming?” ➡️ Builds trust without confrontation. “What will break if this goes wrong?” ➡️ Grounds strategy in reality. “Who is accountable when tradeoffs arise?” ➡️ Strengthens execution under pressure. “How will we know this is working?” ➡️ Replaces vague progress with real signals. “What conversation do we need to have next?” ➡️ Keeps alignment active, not episodic. High-performing teams don’t wait for misalignment to become conflict. They treat alignment as a leadership discipline, not a meeting outcome. Because when leaders are aligned, the organization moves with clarity instead of force. Which question would surface the most truth on your leadership team right now? For leaders navigating complexity, alignment matters. ♻️ Follow Melonie Boone, MBA, MJ, PhD for more.

The first time I led a multiracial multicultural institution, I encountered a fundamental values rift. Everyone shared the mission of supporting the people we served, but two distinct belief systems emerged about how to get there. One group believed we needed to challenge broken systems directly, making systems change the price of admission for partnerships. The other group believed the path forward was proving excellence—growing our program to become irresistible and change systems through demonstrated greatness. Though both groups wanted the same goal, every small disagreement became an existential fight. These weren't just organizational differences but deeply personal beliefs about how to navigate racialized capitalism. I've witnessed similar schisms in countless organizations over the years. Clarity and alignment on organizational beliefs is essential. At Brava, we believe that the way we write our organization values has to change, here are four ways we think that can happen: Be controversial, not universal. Most value statements reinforce universal “goods” that nobody can disagree with—pride, equity, teamwork, honesty. Instead, beliefs should be controversial enough to clarify what your organization is and isn't, even if it means shrinking your talent pool. In fact, it is preferable to shrink the pool to people who want to work on what you want to work on, specifically. Recognize diversity within identity and issue groups. Representational politics has created the false assumption that shared identity means shared beliefs. No common identity or issue affinity guarantees agreement on everything else. Clearly stating your beliefs about the issues you tackle helps people understand your institutional scope, limits, and aspirations. Define aligned behaviors. Once you select beliefs, show how they manifest them in daily life. What does alignment look like in practice? What signals misalignment? These concrete examples make abstract beliefs and values tangible. Acknowledge tradeoffs. Every belief comes with sacrifices. At Brava, our belief "Explore the system, hold the people" means everyone needs more tolerance for frustration since grounding in humanity can require lots of patience. - From our newsletter this week.

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬. As a communications lead who's worked across different sectors, I've seen brilliant strategies fail to deliver in PowerPoint, despite immaculate decks. The ideas weren't the problem; silos, unclear owners, and unsynced rhythms were. Then I discovered what makes strategy stick for organisations: 𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐍, 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 designed to help teams turn vision into shared accountability, weekly momentum, and measurable wins. Let's break it down. 𝐀 - 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 Stop importing "best practices." Start with what you have. Not all best practices will work for the Nigerian or African work landscape. Imagine an organisation with three computers for 50 staff. Their digital transformation strategy? Dead on arrival. Using a mobile-first approach will increase the adoption rate to 90%. 𝐋 - 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 Your strategy shouldn't live in annual reviews. It should breathe in daily tasks. 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞: "Improve customer service" became "Greet every customer within 30 seconds." This is Specific, Measurable and Daily executed. 𝐈 - 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 The security guard knows things your CEO doesn't. How about including your drivers in your logistics strategy sessions? They see and understand things you don't know by sitting in the office. Their input will save you millions monthly. Strategy isn't top-down. It's all-around. 𝐆 - 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 Weekly WhatsApp check-ins beat quarterly reports. "What worked?" "What didn't?" "What's next?" Three questions. Continuous improvement. 𝐍 - 𝐍𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 Every department needs a strategy champion. Not the boss. The believer. They translate big vision into small wins. Stop communicating strategy and start living it. What's killing strategy implementation in your organisation? #StrategicCommunication #ALIGNFramework #OrganisationalStrategy #CommswithFA

One of the most common transformation risks is also one of the easiest to miss. A leadership team leaves the room believing it is “aligned.” But ask each person to write down what is changing, why it matters, and how it will happen… and very different answers often emerge. That is the false alignment trap. In our new Harvard Business Review cover story, Kristy R. Ellmer, Philip Jameson and I write about why this happens, what it costs organizations, and how leaders can move from surface-level alignment to true agreement. The practical lesson? Spend the time to resolve disagreement before execution begins. Be specific. Invite dissent early. Debate well. Clarify decision rights. Commit formally. Communicate as one team. The July/August issue is out now, and the article is available here: https://lnkd.in/eaXkB-JM Boston Consulting Group (BCG) BCG Institute