The Floorboard Audit: 3 Questions CEOs Must Ask Before Their Next Restructure

Most corporate restructures don't fail during execution.

They fail because no one conducted a floorboard audit first.

When operational friction becomes undeniable, the default executive reflex is to launch a transformation project, form a steering committee, or hire a change management firm. But if your original diagnosis is flawed, all you’re doing is polishing the floorboards while the foundation underneath is rotting. You aren't solving a problem; you're executing a bad premise with better project management.

In my career as a middle manager, I experienced this chaos firsthand. Every single week, the executive team would pivot to a brand-new "priority." That meant a wave of new tasks, tracking requests, and urgent deadlines landed on our desks directly competing with the "top priority" another team had given us just seven days earlier.

No one was looking under the rug at the cumulative load. The executive suite thought they were driving agility, but on the ground, they were creating operational whiplash and total, utter confusion.

What actually happened, I hear you say? Nothing. Because when everything is a priority, nothing is a priority.

In my diagnostic practice, I use Carol Bacchi’s WPR (What’s the Problem Represented to be?) framework to pull back the corporate carpet. Before signing off on your next operational refresh or organizational redesign, put your proposed fix through:

The Floorboard Audit: three diagnostic questions every executive team must ask:

1. "What are we assuming is broken?"

Every solution carries a silent assumption about your people or systems.

• If your fix for lagging project delivery is tracking software: You’ve assumed the problem is employee visibility and not unrealistic deadlines.

• If your fix for cross-functional friction is a collaboration workshop: You’ve assumed the problem is interpersonal attitudes and not conflicting KPIs.

Interrogate the intervention. What does this proposed project say you think is wrong?

2. "Who is this problem representation silencing?"

When a leadership team defines a problem, they naturally define it from where they sit. A "communication issue" identified at the board level often looks like "unclear decision rights and shifting priorities" to the front line.

If your diagnostic process doesn't capture the operational realities of those executing the work, your solution will solve a problem that only exists in executive meeting rooms.

3. "What second job are we creating for our workforce?"

Every new process, compliance check, or reporting loop intended to solve a past mistake adds administrative weight.

Before adding a new governance step, ask: What daily tasks are we asking teams to stop doing to make room for this?

If the answer is "nothing," you aren't fixing the system instead you are escalating burnout.

Moving Beyond the Restructure Cycle

Real organisational design isn't about moving boxes on an org chart; it's about having the courage to look beneath the surface and audit how problems are diagnosed in the first place.

If you suspect your organization is solving the wrong problems, stop rearranging the furniture and start inspecting your underlying assumptions.

💬 When everything is a priority, nothing is. What’s one "top priority" initiative you’ve seen recently that ended up creating competing tasks or a second job for the team? Drop your thoughts below. I’d love to hear how your leadership handles cumulative load.

#OrganisationalDesign #ExecutiveLeadership #NZBusiness #ChangeManagement #PeopleAndCulture #HRLeadership #SystemicDiagnosis #CEOInsights

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