Developed at McKinsey by Robert H. Waterman Jr., Thomas J. Peters, and Julien R. Phillips (Structure Is Not Organization, 1980), with Richard T. Pascale and Anthony G. Athos.
Checks an organization's alignment across strategy, structure, systems, shared values, style, staff, and skills, and produces a list of gaps between its current and required state.
When to reach for it
When a strategy is set but the organization may not be built to carry it out, as after a merger or during a transformation.
How it runs
- Describe the current state of each of the seven elements.
- Describe the state each element needs for the strategy.
- Mark the gaps between the two.
- Sequence the fixes, allowing longest for values, style, staff, and skills.
- Reassess on a set schedule.
Where it sits in SOLVE eX
Go to the source
- Structure Is Not Organization, Business Horizons 23(3), 1980
- The Art of Japanese Management, Simon and Schuster, 1981
- In Search of Excellence, Harper and Row, 1982