Operations · November 2025
Operating Rhythm Over Org Charts
Structure gets redrawn every reorg. Rhythm — the weekly cadence of decisions — is what actually compounds.
Every new executive inherits an org chart and, within a year, redraws it. It's the most visible lever available, and it feels like progress. But I've come to believe the org chart is one of the least durable tools a leader has.
What compounds instead is rhythm: the same weekly review, the same three metrics, the same follow-through on the same day, quarter after quarter. Rhythm is unglamorous. Nobody puts a new cadence in a press release. But it's the thing that actually changes how decisions get made.
A team with a weak structure and a strong rhythm will consistently outperform a team with a perfect structure and no rhythm at all, because rhythm is what turns a decision into an action, and an action into a habit.
When I take on a new operating role, the org chart waits. The first thing I build is the calendar.
Eleanor Marsh
Chief Executive Officer, Meridian Holdings