91: Dave Kellogg - Organizational design: Signs of Health vs. Conflict

“The only time where I saw all the VPs align is when they all hated the CEO” Why do we keep getting organizations wrong? How should you think about your team, the team of teams, and the organization you’re in?

Our five principles of organizational design and how to navigate growth and scaling challenges, particularly in startups.

takeaways

• Growth should be a collective responsibility across all departments.
• High internal conflict is a sign of poor organizational health.
• C-level executives must act as translators between departments. Internal curiosity is as important as external curiosity.
• Smaller companies often scale too quickly without solid foundations.
• Founders should maintain humility about what they don't know.

Sound Bites

• "We start out with a high-level idea, then complicate it."
• "You should measure MQLs, not celebrate them."
• "Make sure you're alive to fight in the next round."

Chapters

00:00 Understanding the Dual Role of a CMO

06:08The Ownership of Growth: A Collective Responsibility

12:12 Organizational Design: Indicators of Health and Conflict

17:51 The Complexity of Metrics and Data Overload

23:56 Cross-Functional Collaboration: The Role of C-Level Executives

30:38 The Importance of Internal Curiosity

31:36 Lessons from the GE Hawthorne Experiments

32:32 Feedback and Communication in Organizations

34:21 Five Principles of Organizational Design

36:14 Designing for Healthy Conflicts

37:40 Rethinking Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs)

40:02 The Role of Incentives in Organizational Success

42:17 Establishing Fail-Safe Processes

44:13 Challenges Faced by Smaller Companies

45:08 The Need for Humility in Startups

48:57 The Complexity of Large-Scale Projects

50:50 Understanding Time vs. Money in Enterprise Sales

52:00 Practical Advice for Implementing Change

56:41 Managing Big Projects Effectively

59:01 Staying Alive in the Competitive Landscape

Send us a text

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