From no strategy to a clear identity and direction
The challenge
A large U.S. mission-driven nonprofit had set a bold new four-year strategy, and its Tech team needed to be fit for purpose to deliver it. The CTO's ambition was a fundamentally different organization, enabled by technology. But the team was stretched thin, its capacity absorbed by urgent requests, and it worked mostly in silos. A consultancy had been hired to redesign the team, and its research showed the deeper issue was not headcount. The team's role and direction were unclear, and the redesign could not move forward without a shared strategy. The CTO needed clarity on who the team is, how it shows up and the value it delivers, strong enough to guide the redesign that followed.
Listen and envision
I led the strategy phase of the wider Tech team redesign, alongside the organizational design firm. Building on the firm's survey and interview research across the team, I designed and ran a workshop with the CTO, department heads and senior directors across product, engineering and analytics. Together they explored the needs of the people who depend on them, the forces shaping their work, the roles they play and what value means to them. Their words became the language of the strategy. The organization values discussion and consensus along the way, so I adapted my approach to match their ways of working.
The insight:
Partnership can't scale on relationships alone, it needs to become structural to deliver end-to-end value across an organization.
Design the strategy
I shaped the strategy around four strategic pillars covering the team's role, how it operates and how it makes its value visible to the wider organization. At its core sat a new ambition and identity for a team that shapes outcomes, while still delivering the services the organization relies on. I defined how the team shows up across the organization, built a value proposition architecture and drafted mission statement directions. Alongside the direction the team shaped, I brought expert recommendations that answered what the evidence revealed, including an operating capacity model to protect time for innovation and a framework for build versus buy decisions. Every part of the strategy traced back to the insight behind it, and leadership decided which recommendations to adopt, refine or replace.
Make it real
Usable frameworks the team's redesign could immediately implement to operationalize the strategy.
A story and communications framework backed by proof points to make their value visible to stakeholders.
A designed strategy deck brought it all together: simple enough for the team to rally around, and clear enough for the CTO to take to leadership.
What changed
- Leadership locked a new ambition and identity, and recognized their own thinking in it.
- The team has a shared way to explain its value to the rest of the organization.
- The redesign of roles, processes and structure could build directly on the strategy and frameworks.