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Execution · Plan

McKinsey 7S

Checks whether the organisation is actually configured to deliver the strategy, across seven elements that have to line up. Assumes the strategy is sound, which is worth confirming first.

The printable canvas and the handoff into Claude Code are part of a paid plan. See what a plan includes. It needs the Claude desktop app on this machine, and your team and the prompt library already installed in that project — we cannot see your disk, so open it there.

Stage
04 Plan
Works at
All levels
Maturity
Established SME → Large organisation
Time
A day, plus interviews

What it is

McKinsey's seven-element model of organisational effectiveness, dividing into three hard elements that are easy to change and four soft ones that are not. Its premise is that all seven must be aligned with each other and with the strategy, and that misalignment anywhere blocks delivery.

Strategy
The plan for competing. In this model it is an input to be tested against, not something the model evaluates.
Structure
How the organisation is divided and who reports to whom. The most visible element and the one leaders reach for first, often prematurely.
Systems
The processes and procedures by which work happens — planning, reporting, decision-making, IT. Slower to change than structure and more determining.
Shared values
What the organisation actually believes, as opposed to what is on the wall. Sits at the centre because everything else is shaped by it.
Skills
What the organisation is genuinely capable of. Distinct from what individuals can do — this is collective capability.
Style
How leadership actually behaves, particularly under pressure. Observed rather than stated, and it overrides every written policy.
Staff
The people: numbers, capability, development, and how they are recruited and retained.
The mistake people makeThe model assumes the strategy is right and asks whether the organisation can deliver it. If the strategy is the problem, a 7S produces a thorough plan to reorganise around a bad idea.
What it’s forYou need to know where the organisation will fail to deliver the strategy.
What it’s not forThe strategy is the problem, not the organisation. 7S assumes the strategy is sound.

How you run it

  1. Assess against the strategy, not in the abstractThe question is never "is our structure good" but "does this structure deliver this strategy". Without a strategy the model has nothing to test against.
  2. Do the hard elements firstStrategy, structure and systems are easy to describe and get most of the airtime. Doing them first anchors everyone before the difficult conversation.
  3. Then force the soft elementsShared values, skills, style and staff. These take longer to change and determine whether the hard elements actually function.
  4. Look for the misalignmentsThe model's value is in the mismatches — a strategy needing speed with systems built for control, or values rewarding caution.
  5. Cost the change honestlyStructure changes in months, systems in a year, skills in eighteen months, values in several years. A plan requiring all four inside a year is not a plan.

The prompt

Two ways to run it

Run this tool in your own Claude

The short prompt starts your partner against the library on your disk. The long one carries everything with it and needs nothing installed.

🔒 Prompt locked

Everything above is free — what this tool is, what it is for, what it is not for, and how to run it as a workshop. Three tool prompts a month are free with an account; beyond three, and for the printable canvas, it is the paid part.

See plans

Your playbook

It lands in the earliest stage this tool suits. Move it on the Playbook page.

You’ll need

  • A defined strategy
  • Access to people at several levels
  • Honesty about the soft elements, which is the hard part

You’ll end up with

  • Each element assessed against what the strategy needs
  • The misalignments, ranked
  • What has to change and roughly what that costs

Runs well with

AI risk classification and governanceAlliance and partnership designAssumption logBackcasting