Framework library · Leadership, teams and culture
McKinsey 7S framework
The 7S framework holds that an organisation is more than its strategy and structure. Seven elements, three hard (strategy, structure, systems) and four soft (shared values, style, staff, skills), have to fit one another, with shared values at the centre. Change one and the others pull it back unless they move too, which is why reorganisations that only redraw the chart rarely hold.
Use it when
- A strategy has changed and you need to check what else in the organisation has to change to deliver it.
- A reorganisation, merger or new operating model is being designed and you want to see the knock-on effects before committing.
- Results are falling short and the cause seems to lie in how parts of the organisation fit together rather than in any one of them.
- Two organisations are being combined and you need a common checklist to compare them.
Avoid it when
- You need to choose a strategy. The 7S tests whether the organisation can deliver one. Use SWOT or the Ansoff matrix to choose it.
- The question is one element in depth, such as structure options or a skills gap. Use a tool built for that element.
- You need a plan with dates and owners. Carry the changes from here into an organisational transformation roadmap.
How to run it
Name the change the organisation must deliver
State it as a target, such as "software subscriptions at 40% of revenue by 2029". Every element is judged against it.
Describe each element as it is today
Write what is true, with evidence: who reports to whom, which systems drive decisions, how leaders spend their time, what people are rewarded for. Start with shared values, as people act on them.
Mark how well each pair of elements fits
In the second grid, mark each pair in its row and again in its column, so the counts are complete. The element the others most pull against is where the organisation is out of line.
Write where each element needs to be
Go only as far as the change requires, then rate how far each element must move, from none to fundamental. Some elements will not need to move; say so.
Plan the changes as one set
Strategy, structure and systems are quicker to change and to announce. Style, staff, skills and shared values take longer, and decide whether the quick changes hold.
Mark the fit again after the changes
Re-mark the grid as if the changes were made. Any element still pulling against the others is the next risk.
Work through it
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Mistakes to avoid
- Changing only the hard elements. A new structure with the old style and incentives drifts back within a year.
- Copying shared values from the values statement. Write what the organisation actually acts on.
- Describing the seven elements without judging how they fit. The value is in the connections, not the seven lists.
- Doing it only at the top. Style and shared values look different two levels down.
Where it comes from
Robert H. Waterman, Thomas J. Peters and Julien R. Phillips set it out in "Structure is not organization", Business Horizons 23(3), June 1980, from work at McKinsey with Richard Pascale and Anthony Athos, who used the framework in The Art of Japanese Management (1981). It also featured in Peters and Waterman's In Search of Excellence (1982). The centre element was first called superordinate goals and later shared values. Source.
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Further reading
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