Weisbord's Six-Box Model

A Starting Point for Diagnosing Organizational Issues

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Is your organization well designed, and does it operate effectively? Or is there a gap between "what is" and "what should be"?

Too often, gaps like these aren't identified until they're huge, and that's why leaders and managers should frequently assess their organization – or team – for potential improvement opportunities.

The hard part of this is figuring out where to focus your attention. There are so many factors that contribute to successful operations, and knowing what to investigate and spend your time analyzing is half the battle.

This is where Marvin Weisbord's Six-Box Model helps. Introduced in his article "Organizational Diagnosis: Six Places to Look for Trouble With or Without a Theory", his tool gives you six good places to start looking for improvement in your business. By paying attention to these key areas, you can start generating options for creating a stronger organization.

The Six-Box Model

Weisbord argued that, to be successful, the organization has to work effectively and be internally consistent in six key areas:

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