This is a profile image of Dr. Kirsten Weerda

Dr. Kirsten Weerda

PartnerMunich

Helps clients in multiple industries pursue enterprise agility and flexible organization models; establishes breakthrough accountability to reduce complexity and applies change management approaches to mobilize organization-wide transformation

Within McKinsey’s People & Organizational Performance Practice, Kirsten leads our organization design work in Germany and for clients in advanced industries.

Since joining the firm in 2000, Kirsten has drawn on her expertise as a psychologist to reimagine organizations. She helps clients find ways to improve performance through operating model transformations and she inspires leaders to make their organizations more flexible so they can adapt more quickly to changing industry dynamics.

Kirsten works with companies across multiple sectors, notably in the automotive and advanced industries. She shapes organizational design, guides agile transformations, and implements culture change initiatives. Her clients include several mid-sized and family-owned companies.

Kirsten has published extensively on how organizations can become more agile, including how the “helix” approach to organization design can boost performance by reducing complexity and increasing accountability.

Examples of Kirsten’s recent client work include the following:

  • transforming an internet company to be more agile, with an operating approach that includes fast, flexible ways of working
  • redesigning the largest division of a top global automotive supplier to include a helix organization structure
  • reorganizing and aligning the top team of a mid-sized family-owned business
  • fully redesigning a consumer goods company operating in the business and consumer sectors, enabling growth and innovation
  • working with the top team of an automotive supplier to set aspirations for greater agility, while coaching the top 100 leaders in agile leadership

Kirsten is a certified systemic coach and team-building expert. She is also a certified Agile Scrum Master.

Published Work

Four ways to start using generative AI in HR,” blog entry, McKinsey & Company, March 2024

How to lead in a hybrid environment,” blog entry, McKinsey & Company, June 2022

Future-proofing the organization the ‘helix’ way,” McKinsey & Company, October 2021

The irresistible momentum behind clean, electric, connected mobility: Four key trends,” McKinsey Quarterly, McKinsey & Company, April 2021

Fitter, flatter, faster: How unstructuring your organization can unlock massive value,” blog entry, McKinsey & Company, August 2020

Four considerations for helix success beyond structure,” blog entry, McKinsey & Company, August 2020

What does a helix reorganization look like?”, blog entry, McKinsey & Company, August 2020

Become flexible and speed up with a helix model,” blog entry, McKinsey & Company, July 2020

The helix organization”, McKinsey Quarterly, McKinsey & Company, October 2019

Winning practices for agile in advanced industry,” blog entry, McKinsey & Company, June 2019

Agility: It rhymes with stability,” McKinsey Quarterly, McKinsey & Company, December 2015

Education

University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
PhD
MS
Diploma, psychology