Why Untangling Your Operating Model May Be the Most Strategic Move You Make This Year

Executives across industries are facing a sobering reality: their organizations are strategically ambitious—but structurally exhausted.

The past half-decade brought wave after wave of transformation initiatives: digital acceleration, pandemic adaptation, ESG integration, and now generative AI. Each carried genuine value, but each also left behind a trail of new teams, duplicated workflows, and fragmented accountability.

What we’re seeing now—in boardrooms and C-suites alike—is a shift in tone. Not “What else should we add?” but “What can we remove?” The future of organizational strategy isn’t built on addition. It’s built on intentional simplification.

Complexity is Not a Sign of Sophistication—It’s a Barrier to Execution

As an example, leaders could conduct a strategic mapping exercise across major initiatives and cross-functional staff roles. During the exercise, a tangle emerges: five centers of excellence addressing overlapping mandates, multiple uncoordinated vendor platforms, and three separate groups tasked with “transformation”—none of whom shared reporting lines.

Despite strong talent and significant investment, execution stalls. The strategy wasn’t broken. The structure was.

We see this pattern repeatedly:

• Strategy is sound.
• Talent is present.
• But complexity paralyzes delivery.

The challenge isn’t lack of effort. It’s structural friction—the kind that shows up as duplicated decisions, approval bottlenecks, or confusion over accountability.

A Global Case for Streamlining: Unilever’s Organizational Reset

Take Unilever, which in 2022 embarked on a massive simplification effort after flat performance despite market leadership. Under investor pressure, they moved from a matrixed model to five distinct category-focused business groups (e.g., Beauty & Wellbeing, Home Care), each with end-to-end ownership.

The result? Faster innovation cycles, clearer P&L accountability, and greater strategic alignment between product, marketing, and sales. Shareholder confidence began to rebound as operational discipline improved.

The lesson? Even global giants with decades of success must regularly recalibrate their operating model to stay responsive and scalable.

The AI Effect: Simplification as a Prerequisite to Real Impact

AI is pushing the conversation further. At MGT, we’re working with multiple clients who are eager to integrate AI into their planning, research, and service delivery—but they’re discovering the limits of legacy models.

For example, a public sector client piloting AI to automate eligibility processing saw minimal gains at first. Why? The workflow was already so fragmented—spanning four systems, three agencies, and two approval chains—that automation only amplified the inefficiencies.

Once the operating model was redesigned—collapsing redundant approvals, aligning incentives, and standardizing intake—the same AI solution delivered a 37% reduction in processing time within six months.

AI is not a plug-and-play fix. It performs best in simplified systems with clear inputs and ownership.

A Framework for Simplification

At Cicero/MGT, we approach simplification as an ongoing strategic capability—not a one-time restructure. Here’s how we guide clients through the process:

1. Clarify Strategic Intent

Before cutting or consolidating, align on what matters most. Are you scaling innovation? Reducing cost-to-serve? Becoming more customer-centric?

2. Map Organizational Drag

Use org network analysis (ONA) and decision-rights diagnostics to identify where workflows get stuck. These often aren’t in the org chart—but in the gray space between.

3. De-layer Thoughtfully

Flattening hierarchies isn’t about cutting middle managers. It’s about unlocking speed. Remove unnecessary sign-offs, but preserve judgment in complex workflows.

4. Re-center on Value Streams

Align teams around customer journeys or outcomes, not internal functions. One healthcare client restructured 600 staff around the patient journey rather than department silos—and saw a 22% improvement in care coordination scores.

5. Design for Adaptability

Simpler doesn’t mean rigid. Build modular teams that can spin up or down based on demand, especially in AI-enhanced workflows.

Culture Shift: Clarity Over Coverage

There’s a human dimension to this as well. Overcomplicated orgs often create a culture of defensive ambiguity—employees trying to cover bases, loop in stakeholders, and navigate around unclear authority.

Simplified orgs, in contrast, generate strategic clarity. Teams know what they own. Leaders know where to intervene. Strategy gets executed—not debated in endless alignment meetings.

Final Word: Simplicity Is a Strategic Advantage

In today’s economy, speed wins. Precision wins. And trust in execution wins.

As organizations integrate AI, adopt hybrid models, and face mounting stakeholder demands, the ability to operate clearly and efficiently will define market leaders.

The most strategic question leaders can ask right now isn’t “What should we do next?”

It’s “What do we need to stop doing first?”