621: How to Approach a Reorg, with Claire Hughes Johnson

Claire Hughes Johnson: Scaling People

Claire Hughes Johnson is a corporate officer and advisor for Stripe, a global technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the internet. She previously served as Stripe’s Chief Operating Officer, helping the company grow from fewer than 200 employees to more than 8,000.

Prior to Stripe, Claire spent 10 years at Google leading various business teams, including overseeing aspects of Gmail, Google Apps, and consumer operations. She is a board member at Hallmark Cards, The Atlantic, Ameresco, and HubSpot. Claire also serves as a trustee and the current board president of Milton Academy. She is the author of Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building*.

You are charged with leading a reorg, but do you know the mindset, actions, and steps to take? In this conversation, Claire and I explore some of the key lessons she’s discovered as an executive leader in a quickly growing enterprise. We discuss the key triggers for a reorg, the three phases of reorganization, and common pitfalls leaders should avoid.

Key Points

• Reorganizations or restructurings and often seen as a sign of a problem, but that’s not always the case.
• Why reorganize? Two triggers: (1) your team structure doesn’t match your strategy and/or (2) you have a talent issue.
• While there are times to go slower, the bias should be to move with haste. Don’t leave ice cream on the counter for too long.
• Be very cautious about creating structure around a single individual.

Three phases of a reorg:

• Phase 0: Decide whether you need a reorg and determine your new structure.
• Phase 1: Get buy-in from the key people who need to be involved.
• Phase 2: Create a communications plan and inform all of those affected.

Resources Mentioned

• Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building* by Claire Hughes Johnson
• Transitions* by William Bridges

Interview Notes

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