Any number of things may signal that it is time to reexamine your organization's design. Maybe the company is moving in a new strategic direction, changing the focus of your organization. Maybe layoffs have reduced your organization by 10 percent, three functional areas that are supposed to coordinate their actions aren't, and you are spending more time meeting with direct reports than with key customers or strategic partners. These are flashing yellow lights, signaling it may be time for a change. This article offers you, the decision maker, a way to think about the phases involved in redesigning your organization, the data you need to do it, and other important process considerations.

Even executives whose expertise involves identifying and solving problems can be stumped when the problem is organizational. Frequently, they see two issues: the issue of finding the right answer to the problem, and the issue of getting people to accept that answer. Even if you believe a better approach is to see the issues as one—that is, "How do we involve people in finding the right answer to the problem?"—you end up with the same challenge: execution. This article offers advice on execution for the person responsible for leading organizational change.

Some organizations only think about senior leadership succession when they have to. For example, after the sudden departure of the CEO through scandal or tragic accident. Other organizations plan for it as carefully as they plan their new product line, next strategic acquisition, or market penetration campaign. The approach described in this article has proven effective in bringing about smooth, seamless transitions between outgoing CEOs and their internal successors.

To many, an organization's culture is "the feeling of the place." Others see culture as the organization's "values in action." In well-run organizations, there is a strong connection between this latter definition of culture and success. This article describes an approach for ensuring the alignment of culture and strategy when a change in strategy has prompted an examination of the organizational elements that must be aligned with it.

Traditionally, developing and adjusting organizational strategy is seen as the exclusive province of the chief executive suite. There is a series of discussions that results in a long memo to senior management just before the binders are closed, shelved, and business goes on as usual with organization leaders still complaining that there is no unified direction. There is another way. For organization leaders to understand and fully embrace the strategy, they need to be involved in its creation. The approach described in this article has been effectively used with organizations looking to sharpen their existing strategy.

Even a non-fan can appreciate that the teamwork in soccer is not the teamwork in doubles tennis. Each team is defined by the special demands of its sport and succeeds to the degree that it utilizes the unique talents of its players. This is also true of an organization's executive team. To be effective, the team must understand the game it's playing, commit to the rules it will play by, and act on those rules where and when it counts. This is what's meant by executive team alignment. This article describes an approach for achieving it.