Your Organisation Chart Is Already Your Strategy

Many companies redesign their strategy every few years and their organisation hardly ever. Then they are surprised when nothing changes.

Every organisation is perfectly designed for the results it gets today. It is an old line in management circles, and it is still true. Most structures we see were built for a world of stable markets, long careers and work that happened in one building. That world is gone, but the organisation charts are still here.

From hierarchy to projects

HBR describes how projects and initiatives have become the main way strategy is executed and value is created. A new model, the project-driven organisation, is emerging. It has fewer layers, a deliberate balance between running the business and changing it, and transformation treated as a learning journey rather than a fixed programme with a finish line.¹ ² We like that idea. A transformation with an end date suggests the world will stand still once you arrive.

Skills over diplomas, but done properly

A second shift is the move from diplomas to skills. Many employers have dropped degree requirements from their vacancies, and HBR has documented that trend since 2022.³ The result is sobering, though. When selection methods and culture do not change along with the job posting, the number of new candidates who actually get hired barely moves.⁴ Research also shows that people with a broad base of foundational skills, such as collaborating, learning and communicating, progress faster and prove more resilient than narrow specialists.⁵ For executive roles, this means the CV is not the profile. The capacity to learn is.

The quiet power of middle management

For years, middle management was declared redundant: flatter organisations, more self-steering, and now AI. HBR sees it differently. Organisations will still need middle managers, especially to help frontline teams through rapid change.⁶ They are also the ones who decide whether AI actually lands in daily work, or quietly stalls.⁷ Organisations that hollow out this layer to save costs may be removing the very people who make their strategy work.

Systems, not policies

Finally, retention. HBR research across a very large sample of firms shows that people stay where hiring, pay, development and promotion reinforce one another. Single, well-intended HR measures make little difference on their own.⁸ The same holds for hybrid work: according to HBR, you cannot manage a dispersed workforce with the methods of the office era. Collaboration has to be designed deliberately.⁹

Our view

Organisation is not an HR topic. It is the bridge between ambition and results. When we start a search, we first look at whether the structure fits the GOAL. Sometimes the conclusion is that the new leader is not the answer, and that the organisation around the role needs to change first. Telling a client that is part of our job.

Questions we ask our clients

• Is your organisation designed for your GOAL, or for the strategy of five years ago?
• Which middle managers carry the change, and which ones are slowing it down without saying so?
• Do your hiring, rewards and career paths tell the same story?

Our work starts with your GOAL — not with a vacancy. Read more about our G.O.A.L. model or get in touch.

Sources

1. Harvard Business Review, “10 Questions About Project-Driven Organizations, Answered”, May 2026. hbr.org/2026/05/10-questions-about-project-driven-organizations-answered
2. Harvard Business Review, “Transformation Should Be a Learning Journey”, September 2026. hbr.org/2026/09/transformation-should-be-a-learning-journey
3. Harvard Business Review, “Skills-Based Hiring Is on the Rise”, February 2022. hbr.org/2022/02/skills-based-hiring-is-on-the-rise
4. Harvard Business Review, “What Companies Get Wrong About Skills-Based Hiring”, May 2024. hbr.org/2024/05/what-companies-get-wrong-about-skills-based-hiring
5. Harvard Business Review, “Soft Skills Matter Now More Than Ever, According to New Research”, August 2025. hbr.org/2025/08/soft-skills-matter-now-more-than-ever-according-to-new-research
6. Harvard Business Review, “What’s the Future of Middle Management?”, April 2025. hbr.org/2025/04/whats-the-future-of-middle-management
7. Harvard Business Review, “Middle Managers Will Make or Break AI Adoption”, September 2026. hbr.org/2026/09/middle-managers-will-make-or-break-ai-adoption
8. Harvard Business Review, “Policies Aren’t Enough to Retain Top Talent. You Need Systems.”, January 2026. hbr.org/2026/01/policies-arent-enough-to-retain-top-talent-you-need-systems
9. Harvard Business Review, “Hybrid Still Isn’t Working”, July 2025. hbr.org/2025/07/hybrid-still-isnt-working