Our Approach
Organizations should evolve with intention.
There are no organizational structures, processes or practices that are right in the abstract.
Organizational choices make sense when they fit the strategy, context and moment of the business.
That's why ACACIA starts by understanding the business before deciding what needs to change in the organization.
Business strategy is the starting point.
Where is the business going?
What are the strategic priorities?
What does the business want to achieve?
Where is growth expected to come from?
What is changing?
What constraints exist?
Which capabilities will become critical?
What does the organization need to be particularly good at?
An organizational decision can only be evaluated in the context of what the business needs to achieve.
Four dimensions. One organization.
We look at the organization as a system through four interconnected dimensions.
ChangeTechnology & AI
Organization Design
How should we organize for what comes next?
Structure · Roles & Responsibilities · Decision Rights · Governance · Accountability · Spans & Layers · Business Units · Shared Capabilities
Leadership & Capabilities
What capabilities will the business need?
Leadership · Critical Capabilities · Talent · Critical Roles · Workforce Planning · Development · Management Capabilities
Performance & Accountability
How should strategy translate into priorities and results?
Planning · Objectives · Performance · Expectations · KPIs · Incentives · Compensation · Management Routines
Ways of Working
How should work happen?
Processes · Decision-Making · Collaboration · Communication · Operating Rhythms · Ownership · Tools & Systems
Change
How do we enable organizational evolution while preserving what works and managing the transition effectively?
Technology & AI
How does technology change work, roles, capabilities and organizational choices?
Build on what works.
Rethink what needs to evolve.
Prepare the organization for what comes next.
We don't assume growth means changing everything. Many of the choices that exist today are precisely what enabled the business to reach its current stage.
Our work starts by understanding what is worth preserving. Then we ask what needs to evolve.
How we make organizational decisions
Understand
Where is the business going?
Understand strategy, priorities, context, economics and future needs.
Question
Why does this exist?
Return to the purpose behind structures, processes and practices.
Assess
Does it still serve the business?
Keep · Strengthen · Rethink · Build · Stop
Decide
What does the organization need next?
Evaluate alternatives, costs, benefits and trade-offs.
Align
What else needs to change?
Understand dependencies and ensure coherence across the system.
Enable
How do we make it sustainable?
Implement, transfer capability, establish ownership and enable the organization to sustain the solution.
Context matters.
Expertise tells you what can be done. Judgment helps determine what should be done.
Best practices guide decisions. Context determines them.
The right decision at the wrong time is still the wrong decision.
Add complexity only when it creates more value than it costs.