The Studio

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A practical, human-centered space for designing better organizations.

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Leaders today are navigating complexity, uncertainty, and accelerating change. Many feel pressure to “fix” their organizations while simultaneously running them. The Studio exists to give leaders a place to step back, think clearly, and design intentionally.

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The Studio is not a course, a toolkit, or a set of templates. It is a design environment, a structured yet flexible space where leaders work on the organization rather than in it. The 12 Labs form the backbone of this environment. Inside each Lab are methods, practical tools, questions, and techniques that will help you design with confidence, clarity, and a sense of possibility. The 12 Labs comprise a design journey from intent to deployment.

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1. Design Brief Lab

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Every design journey begins with clarity. The Design Brief Lab helps leaders articulate why a redesign is needed, what is in scope, who should be involved, and how the work will unfold.

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This Lab creates the shared foundation for the entire project. It aligns expectations, defines boundaries, and ensures the design team represents diverse perspectives. A strong design brief serves as the north star, keeping the work focused and coherent as the team moves through the remaining Labs.

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2. Stakeholder Requirements Lab

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Organizations create value through relationships. This Lab helps leaders identify the stakeholders who matter most, including investors, customers, workforce, suppliers, partners, society, and the natural environment, and understand what each group needs.

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Through structured listening and empathy-building methods, the team uncovers the requirements the new system must meet. This ensures the design is grounded in real human needs rather than assumptions or internal preferences. 

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3. Nature of Activities Lab

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Not all work is the same. Some activities require precision and standardization; others require creativity, judgment, or collaboration. This Lab helps leaders understand the system's socio-technical nature, including its physical, digital, creative, and bespoke characteristics.

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By clarifying the nature of the work, the team can determine the right balance of structure and flexibility. This prevents over-engineering creative work or under-structuring critical processes.

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4. Theories and Research Lab

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Good design is informed design. This Lab brings in the best available evidence, including relevant theories, research findings, and scientific insights, to help the team understand how people behave and how systems function.

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As Kurt Lewin noted, “There is nothing more practical than a good theory.” This Lab ensures the design is grounded in what is known to work, while still leaving room for creativity and innovation. 

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5. Inspiring Examples Lab

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Innovation often begins with inspiration. This Lab exposes the team to examples from high-performing organizations, both inside and outside their industry, to spark new ideas.

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The goal is not to copy “best practices” but to adapt and recombine useful elements in creative ways. Examples help teams imagine what is possible and avoid being constrained by their own experience.

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6. Unique Context Lab

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No two organizations are the same. This Lab helps leaders understand the internal and external contexts that shape what will work in their organization, including products, operations, culture, workforce, strategy, governance, country cultures, and other external factors.

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Context is the anchor of custom design. It ensures the system fits the organization’s reality rather than forcing the organization to fit someone else’s model.

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7. System Integration Lab

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Organizations are networks, not silos. This Lab helps the team map how the system they are designing connects to other systems, including customers, operations, suppliers, workforce, culture, scorecards, strategy, governance, and leadership. 

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By identifying inputs, outputs, and integration points, the team is able to design the interfaces and avoid unintended consequences. This helps ensure the systems reinforce each other rather than compete.

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8. Design Principles Lab

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This Lab introduces the eight design principles: rational, adaptive, congruent, coordinated, empirical, elegant, human, and sustainable. These principles act as design guardrails, helping the team make decisions that lead to coherent, high-performing systems.

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The principles ensure the design is not only technically sound but also human-centered and future-ready.

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9. Diagnose Lab

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Before designing something new, it is essential to understand what already exists. This Lab uses a structured diagnostic to assess the current system’s strengths and weaknesses.

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The goal is not to critique but to learn. The team identifies what to keep, what to improve, and what to redesign, building on strengths rather than starting from scratch.

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10. Design Lab

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This is where creativity meets structure. The team first imagines an ideal design, free from constraints, to stretch their thinking. Then they refine it into a feasible design that fits real-world conditions.

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Finally, they develop a detailed design with activities, decision criteria, tools, and technologies. This Lab transforms insight into a tangible system ready for prototyping. 

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11. Develop Lab

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A design is only a hypothesis until it is tested. This Lab turns the detailed design into prototypes, first on paper or digitally, then through a pilot.

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Through iterative testing and refinement, the team learns what works, what doesn’t, and what needs adjustment. This reduces risk and increases confidence before full deployment.

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12. Deploy Lab

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Deployment is where design becomes reality. This Lab guides leaders through change management, communication, training, and ongoing evaluation.

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The team builds a compelling case for change, prepares the workforce, and adapts the system as it rolls out across the organization. Deployment is not an endpoint; it is the beginning of continuous learning and improvement.

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The 12 Labs form a repeatable, flexible design journey. They give leaders a structured way to think, create, test, and evolve organizational systems that are:

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• Human-centered
• Evidence-informed
• Context-specific
• Integrated
• Adaptable
• Sustainable

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