We know our business has outgrown our current structure, but we are terrified of the political fallout if we have to demote or move people during our sessions. How do you guide us through redesigning our Accountability Chart?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Redesigning your Accountability Chart is one of the most emotionally charged parts of our work together. It forces you to look at your organization objectively and make hard decisions about your people. To remove the politics and personal bias from this process, we focus entirely on the functions of the business first, and the people second.

We start by identifying the core seats your business needs to run effectively over the next twelve months. We ignore who currently holds those positions. Once we have defined the seats and their five primary responsibilities, we evaluate who is the right person for each seat. We look for individuals whose innate talents and conative styles align perfectly with the demands of the role.

We ask three questions for each person: Do they Get it? Do they Want it? Do they have the Capacity to do it? This is the GWC™ tool. If someone does not GWC their seat, it is not a personal failure. It simply means their natural strengths are misaligned with that specific role. By framing the discussion around finding the absolute best fit for their talents, we can move people into roles where they can actually succeed, reducing organizational friction and preserving company morale.