The redesign was analyzed but nobody owned the delivery
A mid sized distribution business had a redesign of its distribution network sitting in a report. The analysis had been paid for and the numbers were credible. What the business did not have was somebody inside it who could carry the change through: make the decisions, hold the difficult conversations with site leads, and be answerable for the result. A document cannot do any of that.
Hiring somebody permanently was the obvious answer and a poor fit for the shape of the work. The job was demanding for a defined period, then much smaller once the change was in place. That is the shape interim management is built for: a senior person who takes the seat, owns the outcome, and leaves when the work is done.
We looked for people who had finished a redesign before
We scoped the role with the chief executive around the outcome it had to produce rather than around a job description, then went looking for people who had led comparable network redesigns to completion. The screening question was deliberately narrow. Had the candidate personally taken a network redesign from decision to operating reality, and what had gone differently from the plan they started with?
That question filters heavily. Many people have worked on a network redesign, but far fewer have owned one from end to end, which is the distinction here. The engagement was scoped with a defined end, and handover to the business was written into the brief from the outset. Candidates cleared the Nextyn compliance framework before we introduced any of them.
The redesign moved from report into working operation
The business appointed an interim director who took the redesign into implementation. Accountability for it sat inside the organization rather than with an adviser, which is what the business had been missing. The shape of the engagement matched the shape of the problem: a permanent hire would have outlasted the need, and more advice would not have moved anything.
Because handover was in the brief from the start, the knowledge of how the new network runs stayed with the business when the placement ended rather than leaving with the person who held the seat.
