Structure and Strategy - Sustainable Growth Through Balanced Execution

Evaluating and refining a market strategy and organizational structure because of changes is never easy but is always necessary.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture

As a contractor grows there are inflection points where their market strategy and organizational structure must be evaluated and refined.  These changes are just part of the cycles every business goes through. 

Leadership Tools: Structure vs Strategy. Quote: Structure Follows Strategy. Alfred D Chandler, Jr. OR. Quote: Strategy Follows Structure. David Hall and Maurice Saias.

It is easy to talk about any one element of a contractor’s business foundation by itself.  The reality though is that it’s how effective the whole Business Operating System is that matters.  

As Larry Bossidy describes in the book Execution most strategies fail due to execution.  We don’t make academic arguments with contractors - if a strategy can’t be reasonably executed it isn’t a good strategy.  

The approach we take to strategic planning looks at both existing organizational capabilities (what is true) as well as what the ideal strategy would be if there were no constraints.  As Roger Martin describes - “What would have to be true for this strategy to work?” 

By exploring what it would take operationally to execute the strategy then feeding that information back to the strategy in an iterative process a contractor develops plans that work in the long-term. Josh Waitzkin describes this well when it comes to mastery it is about drawing smaller and smaller circles - it is not a linear process.


Contact us to learn how we help contractors develop then execute winning strategies. 




Resource - Elevating Construction Superintendents (General Contractors)
Elevating Construction Superintendents by Jason Schroeder is our most recommended book for Superintendents, Project Managers, and Senior Leadership at all GCs along with top leadership at any specialty contractors with a field workforce of 50+ people.
The Risks of Vision and Strong Leadership
The strongest leaders at all levels in construction have a clear vision of where they are headed and are relentlessly focused on achieving their goals. They align their teams tightly around the vision, goals, and strategy. This may introduce risks.
Lean Principle - Value Add vs. Non Value Add
For specialty contractors the field workforce represents most of their competitive advantage as well as their biggest source of variability. Making improvements to field productivity requires deeply understanding what truly adds value to the customer.