9 new rules ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 

DELIVERING ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS ON THE DAY’S NEWS Brought to you by Alex Panas, global leader of industries, & Axel Karlsson, global leader of functional practices and growth platforms Welcome to the latest edition of Only McKinsey Perspectives. We hope you find our insights useful. Let us know what you think at Alex_Panas@McKinsey.com and Axel_Karlsson@McKinsey.com. —Alex and Axel Operating model overhaul In the news • The right change leader. Many organizations recognize the need for transformation, but not necessarily the person best suited to spearhead the effort. As one expert reflects in CIO, the transformation should be led by an executive with cross-functional responsibilities who reports directly to the CEO. By having a committed transformation leader who coordinates across different departments and is a peer of other C-suite leaders, organizations are better able to align the transformation’s priorities with their overall business goals rather than those of a single function. [CIO] • Driving cultural change. Leaders who embark on digital transformations must not only reassess their organizations’ value proposition and operational workflows but also guide significant cultural shifts within their companies, according to Harvard Business Review. One furniture retailer did just that when accelerating its digital journey during the COVID-19 pandemic, a process that resulted in significant changes to its business and operating model. By communicating a compelling vision to employees that tied the changes to corporate values, the company’s tech leader was able to revamp the business’s inventory management system, use data in new and different ways, and launch a range of new tech-based tools. [HBR] In McKinsey’s latest research on redesigns, two reasons emerged as the primary drivers for why executives initiate a redesign: improving efficiency and refocusing on growth. On McKinsey.com • New rules for success. A decade ago, McKinsey examined organizational redesigns across sectors and company sizes to identify principles that enhance the likelihood of a redesign’s success. To reassess the relevance of these findings—dubbed the “nine golden rules”—in today’s business landscape, McKinsey surveyed 2,000 global executives about 21 redesign factors. This work revealed that the conditions for why organizations launch a redesign have changed, as have the strategies and design decisions that contribute to success, Senior Partner Brooke Weddle and coauthors explain. • Regular redesigns. The survey also reveals that organizational redesigns are now a regular occurrence rather than a rare event. About two-thirds of surveyed leaders said their companies pursued operating model redesigns within the past two years, and half expect to in the next two years. This frequency suggests that companies should develop the capabilities to redesign proactively and regularly, instead of solely in response to specific events. Explore the full set of McKinsey’s new rules for redesigns that, when followed, enabled 97% of companies to achieve success. Get operating model redesigns right —Edited by Belinda Yu, editor, Atlanta Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here. Or send us feedback—we’d love to hear from you. Follow our thinking McKinsey Insights - Get our latest thinking on your iPhone, iPad, or Android. Copyright © 2025 | McKinsey & Company, 3 World Trade Center, 175 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10007