Elderbrook Shire Council restructure diagnosis
McKinsey 7S slide with the current state in every cell
A McKinsey 7S slide checks whether an organisation's seven internal elements fit together, with shared values at the centre binding the other six. This one records where Elderbrook Shire Council, a fictional local government, stands before its 2027 restructure, one line per element.
What is on the slide
- Title
- McKinsey 7S at Elderbrook. Elderbrook Shire Council before its 2027 restructure. Each cell states where that element stands today.
- Hard and soft
- Hard elements: strategy, structure and systems change by decision. Soft elements: values, style, staff and skills change slowly, by example.
- Centre
- Shared Values: service first.
- Hard elements
- Strategy: 14 units into 6. Structure: five layers. Systems: three request tools.
- Soft elements
- Style: escalate by habit. Staff: 22% near retiring. Skills: thin in digital.
When this is the right slide
Choose this slide before a restructure or major change, when leaders must check the fit between strategy, structure, systems and the four softer elements, with shared values at the centre.
What to swap it for
Grouping: 6-Cell Honeycomb Cluster. Swap to the six cell honeycomb cluster, shown in the honeycomb example, for a set of six peer capabilities with no central value and a scope line for each.
What this slide shows
On the left, a title reads McKinsey 7S at Elderbrook over a short framing paragraph: Elderbrook Shire Council before its 2027 restructure, where each cell states where that element stands today. Under a thin rule, two notes with icons separate the model's halves. Hard elements: strategy, structure and systems change by decision. Soft elements: values, style, staff and skills change slowly, by example. On the right, seven teal hexagons form a honeycomb with one in the centre. The centre cell reads Shared Values: service first. Around it, clockwise from the top, the cells read Skills: thin in digital; Strategy: 14 units into 6; Structure: five layers; Systems: three request tools; Style: escalate by habit; and Staff: 22% near retiring. The layout does not draw the element descriptions as separate text, so each cell's label carries both the element and its current state in one short line.
When this is the right slide
Use it at the start of a restructure, merger, transformation or major strategy change, when leaders need to check whether the organisation's internal elements will support the plan. Councils, hospitals, universities and established companies are typical cases, because their soft elements are deeply set. It is also useful in a post implementation review to see which elements moved and which did not. It is the wrong slide when the issue is external, such as a market shift, which a five forces or PESTEL view covers. It is the wrong slide for a team capability map with no values dimension, where a six cell honeycomb with a scope sidebar is simpler.
How to adapt it
First, write each cell as element plus current state, in five words or fewer, and keep the evidence in the notes. Second, place shared values in the centre and write it as the organisation actually behaves, not as the values poster says. If the honest answer is service first, slow to decide, write that. Third, use the intro column to set expectations about pace, separating what can be changed by decision from what changes by example. For a target state slide, copy this layout and rewrite each cell as the state after the change, then present the two slides together. For a smaller organisation, the cells might read strategy: enter two new suburbs, structure: two teams, systems: one booking tool, and so on. The model stays the same; only the facts in each cell change. Two cautions apply. Avoid putting a judgement such as good or poor in a cell without the fact behind it, because the room will argue about the adjective rather than the condition. And keep the seven elements in the same positions on every version of the slide, so that a reader comparing before and after slides can look at one hexagon and see how that element moved. The intro column can change between versions, for example to name the two elements the restructure is targeting first, but the honeycomb itself should stay fixed so that change is visible as change.
What makes this slide work
Shared values sits in the centre cell
Shared Values: service first is the middle hexagon, with the six other elements around it. The geometry carries the model's main claim, that values bind everything else, without needing an explanation. A reader who has never seen the 7S model can still see which element the others are arranged around.
Each cell states a current condition
Strategy: 14 units into 6. Structure: five layers. Systems: three request tools. Staff: 22% near retiring. Each hexagon carries its element and where it stands today, rather than a definition of what strategy or skills mean. The slide is a diagnosis of one council, which is what a restructure discussion needs.
The intro column splits hard from soft
Hard elements change by decision; soft elements change slowly, by example. The two short notes on the left tell the room which of the seven cells can be fixed in the restructure document and which will take years. That distinction sets realistic expectations before anyone promises a new culture by July.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between hard and soft elements in the 7S model?
Hard elements, strategy, structure and systems, can be changed by decision and documented: a new org chart or a new request system can be approved in a meeting. Soft elements, shared values, style, staff and skills, change through behaviour over time. Restructures often fail because they change the hard three and assume the soft four will follow.
Why does shared values sit at the centre?
Because it connects every other element. A council that values service first will judge a new structure by whether residents are served faster. If the values and the planned structure point in different directions, the structure will be quietly resisted. Placing values in the middle cell reminds the room that every other change is tested against it.
How much text fits in each 7S cell?
The element name and a three to five word state, for example Staff: 22% near retiring. The hexagons are large but the label wraps within the cell, and anything longer becomes a paragraph that is hard to read. Keep the evidence, such as the age profile of the 412 staff, in the notes or on a follow up slide.
When should a 7S analysis be split across slides?
When the current state and the target state both need showing. This slide records today; a second slide with the same seven cells showing the state after the restructure lets the room compare them. The gaps between the two slides, element by element, are the change program. Putting both states in one cell crowds it.
Is the 7S model useful outside large organisations?
Yes. A small business or a single department has the same seven elements, just fewer people in each. The value of the model is checking fit between them, which matters at any size. A ten person firm adopting a new strategy still needs the systems, skills and style to match, and the hexagon shows that at a glance.
How should a 7S slide be presented?
Start with shared values, then the three hard elements, then the three soft ones, and finish by naming the misfit that worries you most. Here, service first sits uneasily with decisions that escalate by habit and three separate request tools. That tension is the reason the restructure exists, and naming it is more useful than reading every cell.
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