Most teams do not decide to become disorganised. They grow, they hire, they respond to immediate needs, and one day the reporting lines that made sense at fifteen people make no sense at forty. By the time anyone notices, the structure has been wrong for a year.
01 The drift pattern
Growth-phase structural drift follows a recognisable sequence. A new function is needed, so someone takes it on in addition to their existing role. That works for a while. Then the function grows and the person is now doing two jobs. A new hire is brought in to help, but it is not clear who they report to. The original person keeps informal authority. The new hire has formal authority. Decisions slow down.
This pattern repeats across functions until the organisation has a formal structure on paper and a different informal structure in practice. The informal structure is usually more efficient, which is why nobody fixes the formal one. But the informal structure depends on specific people, and when those people leave, the knowledge leaves with them.
02 What a design review looks at
An organisational design review starts by mapping both structures: the one on paper and the one that actually operates. The gap between them is the most informative thing in the exercise. It shows where the formal structure has failed to keep up with how the work actually flows.
The review then looks at decision rights. For each significant type of decision the organisation makes regularly, who has the authority to make it, who needs to be consulted, and who needs to be informed? In most growing teams, this is either undocumented or documented incorrectly.
03 What the output looks like
The deliverable is a written proposal, not a new org chart. The proposal explains the current friction points, the reasoning behind the proposed changes, and the specific adjustments to reporting lines and decision rights. It includes a revision cycle before the final version is agreed.
Implementation is the client's responsibility. We do not manage the rollout. The written proposal is designed to be clear enough that the leadership team can implement it without further consultation, though questions are welcome.
Structure is not the most interesting part of running an organisation. But when it is wrong, it is the thing that makes everything else harder.