Organisational redesign that holds
The Redesign Studio helps leaders change the conditions their Friction Architecture™ Profile reveals, one focused experiment at a time.
From your Profile to changes that hold
Your Friction Architecture™ Profile sets a personalised route. Leaders then redesign, test and assess changes within the work itself.
1
Follow your Profile’s route
Your Profile identifies which redesigns to tackle and in what order. In a focused session of no more than 90 minutes, leaders choose a change, an owner and a way to judge it.
2
Run a bounded experiment
Put the change into practice for 6–12 weeks as part of normal work, using Studio tools and guides to support a test-and-learn approach.
3
Decide at 90 days
Use clear 90-day markers to decide whether to keep, adapt or stop the change on evidence, then move to the next redesign on your route.
Two ways to run the Studio
Delivery approach
Facilitated by Synaptic Potential
Run in-house
Your leaders lead the redesign
Both follow your Profile’s route
Redesign sessions
Synaptic Potential facilitates sessions with your leaders
Your own facilitators lead sessions
Each session lasts no more than 90 minutes
Every change has an owner and a way to judge progress
Experiment support
Support continues through to the 90-day markers
Use facilitation guides, tools, templates and resources
Changes are tested in normal work for 6–12 weeks
Your team builds capability to keep redesigning
The Managers add-on
Once leadership changes are in place, managers make them work in the everyday decisions and routines of their teams. The optional Managers add-on helps them lead within the redesigned conditions, recognise when old habits return and reinforce the new way of working rather than quietly working around it.
What the Redesign Studio is not
Not training
The Studio changes the conditions in which people work, not their skills. Leaders redesign how work happens instead of asking people to cope better with friction.
Not a workshop series
Every focused session ends with a specific change, a named owner and a date. The change is then tested in normal work, not left as an idea on a workshop wall.
Neither a restructure nor a report
Most redesigns change how the organisation runs, not its org chart. Your leaders make and own the changes themselves, building the capability to redesign again.
Who the Studio is for
The Redesign Studio is for leadership teams who have completed the Friction Architecture™ Diagnostic and are ready to act on what it reveals. Your Profile identifies where friction sits and sets a route through the organisational redesigns most likely to make a difference. Without it, choosing what to change would be guesswork. If you have not yet taken the Diagnostic, you can book it together with the Studio.
Knowing it has worked
Each redesign is tested in everyday work. Its 90-day markers show whether a change is worth keeping, needs adapting or should stop. The annual health check then re-runs the Friction Architecture™ Diagnostic against your original baseline.
01
Set the markers
Leaders agree what they will look for within 90 days before an experiment begins.
02
Run the experiment
An owned change runs within normal work for 6–12 weeks, with time to observe what actually happens.
03
Decide what comes next
Use the 90-day markers to keep, adapt or stop the change on evidence rather than opinion.
04
Compare the baseline
The annual health check re-runs the Diagnostic, showing what has moved since your original baseline and where to focus next.
“A trial gives leaders a way to learn from what changes in real work before deciding what should last.”
Perpetual Guardian’s published account of its own trial offers a public example of a test-and-learn approach to change.
Questions about the Redesign Studio
How the Studio works, who is involved and what it takes to put changes into practice.
Why do we need the Diagnostic first?
Your Friction Architecture™ Profile sets the route. Without it, you would be choosing what to redesign on instinct rather than seeing where the friction sits. The Diagnostic and Studio can be booked together.
Who takes part in the Studio?
Your leaders redesign the conditions they can change at their own level. Managers can join through the optional Managers add-on once the first changes are in place.
How much time does a redesign session take?
Each focused session takes no more than 90 minutes. Leaders leave with a specific change, an owner and a way to judge whether it is working.
How long does an experiment run?
Experiments run for 6–12 weeks inside normal work. They change how work is done rather than adding a separate programme alongside it.
Can our own people run the Studio?
Yes. Your facilitators can run it in-house using our facilitation guides, tools, templates and resources, or Synaptic Potential can facilitate the sessions.
Can we book the Studio without a Profile?
No. The Studio follows the Friction Architecture™ Diagnostic because your Profile makes the most useful redesign opportunities visible. You can arrange both together.
Is the Studio a training programme?
No. It changes organisational conditions, not people’s skills. Each session produces a change that leaders can test in everyday work.
Will we need to restructure the organisation?
Not necessarily. Most redesigns change how the organisation runs rather than its reporting lines or org chart.
How do we know which changes to keep?
Each experiment has 90-day markers to inform a decision to keep, adapt or stop it. The annual health check compares a new Diagnostic with your original baseline to show what has moved across the year.
Every leader is an architect
The question is whether you are designing deliberately. The Redesign Studio is where you start. Already have your Friction Architecture™ Profile? Book a conversation. If not, explore the Diagnostic first.