Why Structure Fails First—And What to Do About It

If you're leading a utility right now, you’re probably facing two competing truths:

1. You’re expected to do more with less—less budget, fewer people, higher expectations.

2. You’re also expected to lead culture, deliver on regulatory demands, and be the face of long-term transformation.

Here’s what most people get wrong about managing this tension: They start with strategy—or worse, culture—before they've built structural lift.

Without structure, culture stalls. Without culture, strategy fails. That’s why structure fails first—and it’s exactly where I start.

Common Signs of Structural Failure

• Leaders are firefighting daily with no time for proactive thinking. Forced to be reactive rather than proactive.

• Budgets feel like a black box—what’s driving the cost isn’t clear, making it near impossible to drive clarity and solve problems.

• Redundant approvals, outdated SOPs, or manual workarounds rule the day. No one has time to fix this in broken systems and reactive cultures.

• Everyone’s busy, but no one can tell you what’s actually improving

What is Structural Lift?

Structural Lift is the first drive of the Elevation Engine™, my signature transformation framework designed for regulated industries with high stakes and tight margins. It focuses on restoring clarity, reducing waste, and rebuilding the operational systems that support everything else.

This isn’t about red tape.
It’s about eliminating friction and repositioning your cost structure so you can get your footing back.

What It Takes to Recover Structural Lift

This isn’t solved by “working harder.” Structural Lift requires a targeted approach:

1. Affordability Recovery

• Cost containment and risk mitigation: Identify controllable spend categories, stop the financial bleeding, and contain overspend without hurting performance.

• Regulatory-Aligned Reclassification: Work cross-functionally with finance teams to ensure that investments are categorized in a way that aligns with regulatory allowances—so dollars go further.

• Transparency in Budget Storytelling: Equip leaders to know what’s in, what’s out, and what’s recoverable—without needing a finance degree. When finance, operations, and regulatory strategy speak the same language, the path to affordability becomes visible.

2. Process Optimization

• Lean redesign of workflows to cut friction and boost speed

• Automation and standardization to free up teams

• Visual systems that create line-of-sight for leaders

When these levers move, the entire organization begins to stabilize—and only then can we build cultural thrust and strategic altitude.

Real Tools I Use to Create Structural Lift

• Optima 6™ – My tactical system for eliminating process waste

• Affordability PMO – A tiger team model that finds, tracks, and sustains savings

• Lean Utility Toolkit – A just-start-now field manual for mid-level leaders

These tools aren’t for show. They’re battle-tested inside organizations I have worked with (like PG&E) facing real constraints and real consequences.

What’s Next?

This is the first in a 3-part series exploring the Elevation Engine™—how utility leaders rise through structure, culture, and strategy. Up next: Cultural Thrust, and why emotional clarity is your hidden accelerator.

But for now, if you're feeling like your team is working harder but sinking deeper, pause and ask: Have we built enough lift to rise?

If not, let’s talk.

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