Encyclopedia of Leadership

2.2

THE 7S MODEL: ALIGNING FOR SUCCESS

Inspired by Stuart Crainer, Tracey Goss, Richard Pascale, Anthony Athos, Tom Peters, and Robert Waterman.

The 7S modelis one of many frameworks that will encourage leaders to think systemically, par-

ticularly when planning large systems or systemwide change within an organization (e.g., start-

ing up a project, redesigning a workgroup or team, coaching other leaders to make changes

within the organization). Peters and Waterman observed that leaders using this model got

“more done because they could pay more attention with all seven S’s instead of just two.”

(Traditionally, the only two S’s that leaders didpay attention to were strategy and structure.)

Your organization is full of interacting systems—sales, accounting, promotions, compen-

sation, inventory, performance assessment, and development, just to mention a few. Within

each of these systems are more systems; for example, accounting may have systems for bud-

geting, invoicing, accounts payable, expense accounts, and so on. In an ideal situation, all

these systems are aligned to achieve well-defined goals with spectacular results. The less than

ideal is more common; a normal organization continually wrestles with misaligned systems.

Much of a leader’s energy is expended in trying to accomplish something while dealing with

organizational systems that seem designed for different purposes.

Sometimes referred to as the hard S’s, the three more rational, understandable or visible,

measurable, and formal aspects of organization design are:

Structure—how people are organized to do the work; division of roles and responsibilities.

(Information) Systems—information and how it is shared; measurement.

Strategy—the direction and goals of the organization or business unit.

Sometimes known as the soft S’s, and four aspects often ignored to the peril of change pro-

grams, are:

Staff—people; the demographics of those who work in the organization.

Skills—competencies and skills needed to run the organization.

Style—how the organization is led (e.g., participatory, team, top-down).

Shared values—values espoused and practiced by the organization (e.g., entrepreneurship,

innovation).

SECTION 2 TOOLS FORBIG-PICTURETHINKING 45

Structure

Shared Values

Systems

Style

Staff

Strategy

Skills