Sharpening the Axe: How Strategic Team Structures Drive Business Evolution

By Jo Geraghty, Co-founder & Director at Culture Consultancy

 

Are your team too busy chopping wood to sharpen the axe?

 

Your business journey is marked by various stages and inflection points – from start-up mode to post-IPO, from major fundraising rounds to new leadership transitions. Each stage demands a different approach to team building and management. The key lies in understanding the capabilities you need and ensuring your teams can deliver them efficiently.

 

In the relentless pursuit of business growth, it’s easy to fall into the trap of constant action without pausing to refine your approach. This is akin to continuously chopping wood with a dull axe, never taking the time to sharpen it. But what if taking a moment to “sharpen the axe” could dramatically improve your team’s efficiency and effectiveness?

 

Let’s explore three team archetypes that can help you navigate these critical junctures:

 

1) The Hollywood Team: When You Need Quick, High-Impact Results

 

Imagine assembling an all-star cast for a blockbuster film. That’s your Hollywood Team – a group of elite experts brought together for a specific, high-stakes project. This team shines when you’re in start-up mode and need to accelerate growth, when you’re post-IPO and want to capitalise quickly on new market opportunities, or when you’ve just secured funding and need to meet aggressive investor expectations.

 

The Hollywood Team is your sharpest axe, capable of felling the mightiest trees in record time. However, it’s a high-cost option best used for short, intensive periods.

 

2) The Future Builders: Cultivating Long-Term Success

 

If the Hollywood Team is about immediate impact, the Future Builders are about sustainable growth. This team focuses on developing internal talent, creating a strong leadership pipeline, and ensuring continuity. It’s particularly valuable when you’re experiencing rapid growth and need to scale without losing your company culture, when you’re going through post-M&A integration and need to blend different organisational strengths, or when you’re post-IPO and want to demonstrate sustainable leadership to shareholders.

 

The Future Builders are like master craftsmen, not just sharpening the axe but teaching others how to maintain it, ensuring your team stays efficient for years to come.

 

3) The Flex Team: Adaptability in Action

 

In today’s fast-paced business environment, the ability to pivot quickly is crucial. The Flex Team embodies this principle, working in short cycles and continuously adapting to changing demands. This team structure excels when you’re in startup mode or a turnaround situation where rapid iteration is key, when you’re implementing new leadership and need to quickly align with a fresh vision, or when you’re post-fundraising and need to maximise newly acquired capital through agile market responses.

 

The Flex Team doesn’t just sharpen the axe; they’re constantly evaluating whether an axe is even the right tool for the job, ready to switch to a chainsaw or a laser cutter if that’s what the situation demands.

 

Choosing the Right Team for Your Business Stage

 

Your choice of team structure should reflect your current business stage and the challenges you face. For instance, in startup mode, you might balance a Hollywood Team for critical projects with a Flex Team for rapid iteration. Post-fundraising, you could use a Hollywood Team to meet investor expectations, supported by a Flex Team for ongoing refinement.

 

During rapid growth or post-M&A, leaning on Future Builders to maintain culture and develop talent, with a Flex Team to handle integration challenges, could be ideal. Post-IPO, a combination of Future Builders for long-term stability and a Flex Team to keep innovation alive might be the best approach.

 

For turnaround situations, deploying a Hollywood Team to stabilise, then transitioning to a Flex Team for sustainable recovery could work well. And when implementing new leadership, using a Flex Team to embrace the new vision, supported by Future Builders to maintain operational stability, might be the most effective strategy.

 

The Art of ultimate Axe Sharpening in Business

 

Sometimes, the key to success isn’t working harder, but working smarter. By choosing the right team structure for your current business stage, you’re effectively “sharpening your axe”. This approach ensures that when you do “chop wood” – tackle your business challenges – you do so with maximum efficiency and effectiveness.

 

Remember, it’s not always about reengineering your existing team’s strengths. Sometimes, it’s about recognising when you need a different type of team altogether. By aligning your team structure with your business journey – whether you’re post-IPO, under new leadership, in a turnaround, or post-fundraising – you set your company up for success.

 

So, ask yourself: Is your team too busy chopping wood to sharpen the axe? If so, it might be time to step back, reassess, and choose the team structure that will give you the sharpest edge in your current business landscape.

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