What we actually learn about method: structuring a complex management initiative in Zurich over 90 days

A foundation director in Zurich put it in one sentence: "It's not a tools problem, it's a courage problem." Hard to hear. Often right. A complex management transformation doesn't play out in two days or two years. Ninety days is the window in which an observable, measurable change can be produced without exhausting the organisation. Here is the sequenced method we use in Zurich.

Days 1-15: diagnosis and framing

Five internal interviews, two field observations, one document review. Goal: produce a one-page framing that precisely names the target behaviour, the linked business stake and the responsible sponsor. Without this document, what follows drifts. A single metric is enough: how often the target behaviour is observed 90 days after the workshop.

Days 16-30: sponsor and collective alignment

The sponsor publicly states the stake to the team. Short (20 minutes) but the moment that legitimises everything that follows. We systematically prepare it together — message, tone, formulation of expectations.

Days 31-60: guided practice

Two 4-hour collective workshops three weeks apart, complemented by individual coaching for key profiles. The phase where complex management shifts from declared to practised.

Days 61-80: anchoring through rituals

We install the new behaviours into existing rituals: weekly team review, one-to-ones, steering committee. No new meeting — we transform meetings that already exist. That's what makes the change sustainable. (our executive and employee training programmes)

Days 81-90: impact review

Honest measurement: follow-up interviews, field observation, business indicators. We separate what genuinely changed from what stayed declarative. This review produces the next decision: extend, deepen, or stop.

What stays with us

One last thing, almost whispered: what we see in Zurich doesn't depend on the size of the organisation. A 40-person SME can produce sharper change than a 4,000-headcount group, simply because it accepts to look at what it has long avoided. That's the real factor. To go further: explore the Complex Management training in Zurich, or browse our executive and employee training programmes in Switzerland.

In pictures: Complex Management in Zurich

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