Is Your Organization Up to Code?
Inspecting your business for the drivers of change
If you know me or if you’ve read my book, Data-Driven Talent Management, you’ll know I’m a huge fan of HGTV and the DIY Network. Give me a weekend and a streaming subscription and I’ll happily binge anything involving demolition, power tools, and creatively repurposing spaces. There’s also always one part or another of my house that is under construction. It’s never really done.
But that’s how your business is–or should be. Businesses, like houses, are always changing, even when no one calls it a “renovation.” We often assume that because business gets done and metrics get met, everything is structurally sound. But beneath the surface, the organizational systems that carry your strategy—processes, workflows, decision rights, job roles, communications infrastructure, tech platforms, cultural norms—might be dangerously outdated.
And in today’s rapidly changing environment, what’s outdated is more than just inefficient. It’s a liability.
Let’s decode it. 🚀
What drives change in your home…or business?
If you feel like the world is changing faster than ever, you're not imagining things. The drivers of change are accelerating—and they're not just happening more often, they’re happening all at once.
But let’s talk about everything that drives change, and how to plan for it.
1. Code Updates (Regulation, Policy, Security, Compliance).
Just like housing codes evolve for safety and function, your organization faces continual updates in compliance and regulation. Whether it’s privacy law, cybersecurity protocols, environmental standards, or new workplace requirements, these changes are non-negotiable. They require regular inspection and timely adaptation.
2. Changing Use of Space (Shifting Mission or Workforce Needs).
Remember when your guest room became a home office? Organizations evolve too. Maybe you’re serving new customers. Maybe your workforce is hybrid now, or you’re working around return to office mandates. Maybe your teams need different tools, structures, or workflows. If your systems still reflect last decade’s reality, they’re not fit for purpose today.
3. Smart Tech Upgrades (Digital and AI Integration).
As we’ve talked about many times around here, today’s work is increasingly tech-enabled. From automation to AI copilots, organizations are layering new capabilities on top of old systems. But without structural integration, these upgrades don’t transform—they just decorate. You need the equivalent of rewiring, not just new outlets, to make them useful—so this one is really a twofer.
4. Aesthetic Relevance (Culture, Brand, Experience).
Sometimes, change is about how the space feels. Maybe that shiplap backsplash looked good five years ago, but now it feels dated (sorry, Chip and Jo-Jo!). In organizations, this means updating language, cultural practices, leadership style, or customer experience to reflect who you are now. Culture is design, too.
5. Storm Damage (Crisis Response and Recovery).
Crises force urgent change. Economic downturns, supply chain disruptions, public scandals, geopolitical conflict—these storms expose vulnerabilities and accelerate shifts. If you’re only upgrading your systems in response to disaster, you’re always rebuilding, never preparing.
6. Routine Maintenance (Governance, Communication, Alignment) This is the gutters and filters. Boring, maybe. But essential. Every organization needs regular processes for evaluating decision rights, aligning stakeholders, keeping information flowing, and ensuring the mission is understood. Neglecting this kind of maintenance creates rot.
Why It Feels Faster Now
So why does it feel like the floor is rotting beneath us or stuff is going out of style more often than before?
Because the cycle times on every one of these drivers has shortened.
Policy shifts that used to take years now change in months
Customers expect digital convenience in real time
Work models evolve with every new tool or generational shift
Competitive advantage is measured in weeks, not quarters
Meanwhile, legacy systems—especially in government, education, healthcare, and large enterprises—were designed for stability, not speed. When the external environment moves faster than your internal processes can adapt, the result is drag, fatigue, and failure to meet mission.
How to Inspect Your Systems
The fix isn’t panic renovation. It’s regular inspection. If you want to avoid crisis-level rot, build a habit of asking:
What assumption is this system based on? Is it still true?
Who is this policy helping, and who is it frustrating?
What workarounds have people created? What do those tell us?
When was the last time we evaluated this process for utility?
Are we maintaining, upgrading, or ignoring this part of our organization?
The most effective leaders and operators are the ones who become organizational home inspectors. They don’t assume that just because the lights turn on, the wiring is sound.
Check out some more things to ask about why your system is doing certain things:
The Four Ls
Every organization has its rituals. Its legacy systems. Its well-worn ways of doing things.
How to Build Change into Your Business Model
Organizations that thrive in disruption aren’t just reacting faster—they’ve built change capacity into their operating model. That means developing systems for continuous renewal, including:
Routine Maintenance: Establish quarterly or biannual system audits to review processes, identify friction points, and evaluate whether current practices still support mission outcomes.
Governance with Agility: Create governance mechanisms that can evolve. Replace rigid policy templates with adaptable frameworks that allow for piloting and iteration.
Market and Technology Scanning: Just like a good homeowner watches for trends in energy efficiency or smart home tech, good organizations assign people to track external changes in customer behavior, tech capabilities, and workforce needs. Make that someone's job.
Listening Infrastructure: Build mechanisms to hear from the ground. Feedback loops from staff, users, and stakeholders often surface hidden issues long before the dashboard lights up.
Update and Sunset Protocols: Don’t just launch new systems—plan for their evolution. Establish timelines for evaluation and criteria for decommissioning outdated tools and policies.
Dedicated Inspection Roles: Empower change leaders, internal consultants, or cross-functional tiger teams to serve as inspectors. Let them dig into hidden systems, spot code violations, and bring forward recommendations.
These activities aren’t “nice to have”–they’re essential muscle for staying relevant. Think of it like replacing smoke detector batteries or cleaning out the dryer vent: easy to ignore, expensive to neglect.
Both in home ownership and business ownership, if you ignore these layered ongoing drivers of change, and the increasing speed with which they’re coming, you’ll end up with a cracked foundation, outdated wiring, and you’ll spend so much on those, you won’t be able to fix the experience–the finishings and features we’d really like to spend our money on.
In business management, like home ownership, there’s always something that’s going to take more time or money to fix than you’re planning on, so you need to build your systems and change management plans accordingly.
I talk about how to build feedback loops for team success to capture experience here on Leadership Launchpad with Matthew Gjertsen. Listen here:
Build for What’s Next
Good organizations stay functional. Great ones stay adaptive. And just like your home, your business deserves ongoing inspection, not just crisis response. Build inspection into your planning cycle. Teach your leaders how to recognize structural issues, not just cosmetic ones. Make room in your budget for modernization, not just patchwork—and keep those emergency funds available, too!
Because change isn’t coming. It’s already in your crawlspace.
So ask yourself: is your organization up to code?
