Stop Fixing Symptoms – Fix Your Organizational Design Instead
by Cesario Ramos.
“We have this big specification upfront where we must write all high-level requirements. It takes over 8 months to get it done, and that is their target. Of course, this gives problems after the handoff to development as things change along the way. I am trying to fix it by having meetings that put the people who write closer to the ones who develop.”
This is a classic local optimization—tweaking processes without addressing the real issue: the organizational design that enforces this rigid, upfront planning in the first place.
Adding more meetings or improving collaboration might ease the pain temporarily, but it won’t change the fact that the system is built to produce large, slow, and brittle specifications. The problem isn’t just a lack of communication; it’s how the org is structured, how success is measured, and the constraints people work within.
As Jay Galbraith says, an organization’s effectiveness depends on how well the five components of the Star Model work together. The stronger the alignment between them, the more effective the organization becomes.
Star Model by Prof. Jay Galbraith
Why Organizational Redesign is Necessary
If the goal is to increase efficiency while keeping costs low, but the organization is structured for big upfront design and sequential execution, then process changes likely won’t be enough. The system itself needs to change.
Here’s why:
Goals and Rewards Influence Behavior – If people are rewarded for delivering their specification “on time and on budget” rather than minimizing waste and delivering value early, they’ll mainly focus on just that.
Processes Define How Work Flows – If budgeting, approvals, or planning cycles are strict, teams can’t work in a way that reduces late-stage costs.
Structure Dictates Collaboration – If teams are structured around functional silos instead of cross-functional collaboration, dependencies slow things down and increase handoffs.
Want different results? Change the system.
If you want to eliminate the recurring handoff problems, you need to rethink the entire system, not just improve how people deal with its inefficiencies. That means looking at:
- Structure – Are teams organized in a way that enables iterative work, or do they depend on large handoffs?
- Rewards – Are people incentivized to complete a spec or to deliver working software?
- People – Are the right skills and decision-making capabilities embedded in teams from the start?
- Strategy – Is the goal “write the perfect spec in 8 months” or “deliver value within budget constraints and adapt as needed”?
- Processes – Are processes helping or reinforcing outdated ways of working?
How to Redesign for Effectivenes
Rethink Rewards & Metrics: Broaden the rewards teams to focus on more e2e value delivered (working product) instead of narrowly completing phases (design done, code done). Shift focus from local utilization (busy teams) to more global throughput (delivering outcomes faster with less waste).
Align Structure with Delivery, Not Functions: Instead of separating design, development, and testing, structure teams around broader end-to-end value. This reduces handoffs, dependencies, and costly delays.
Move from Big Design Upfront to Just Enough Design: Keep high-level direction clear, but let details evolve closer to execution to prevent unnecessary work. Design your process for smaller batches of requirements so we have feedback loops earlyin the design phaseto reduce late-stage surprises.
Optimize for Adaptability, Not Just Cost Control: Cutting costs without improving adaptability can backfire (e.g., reducing headcount but increasing bottlenecks). Reduce work started that id not finished for more predictable delivery, which naturally reduces overall costs.
Your Organization Works Exactly as Designed
The outcomes your organization gets—good or bad—are not by chance. They are a direct result of how your organization is designed to work. If you want different results, you need systemic change, not just better meetings.
Learn more about Designing Agile Organizations.
Check out Creating Agile Organizations.