Org Health Diagnostic

Org Health Diagnostic

Eight dimensions. Traffic lights. Real benchmarks. Surfaces the problems you do not know you have and shows how problems in one dimension cascade to others.

Keywords

org health, organizational health, health diagnostic, health dashboard, health check, company health, functional health, team health, startup health, health scorecard, health assessment, risk dashboard, cross-functional health, dimension cascade, stage benchmarks

Clarify First

Before generating, confirm these inputs. If any is unknown or vague, ASK — do not assume:

• Company stage (Seed / Series A / B / C+) — sets both the dimension weighting and the stage-adjusted benchmarks; a Seed company is not held to Series C standards
• Which dimensions have data and the actual metric values — the diagnostic degrades gracefully, but it must know what's measured vs. missing to avoid scoring on guesses
• The purpose and audience (internal prioritization, board review, QoQ comparison) — determines depth, whether cascade analysis is included, and the output format
• Any known problem areas or recent shocks — focuses cascade analysis on where failures are likely propagating

Stop rule: ask only the 2-3 that most change the output. If the user says "just draft it," proceed and list your assumptions at the top of the artifact.

The 8 Dimensions

Dimension Overview

Dimension 1: Financial Health (CFO)

Dimension 2: Revenue Health (CRO)

Dimension 3: Product Health (CPO)

Dimension 4: Engineering Health (CTO)

Dimension 5: People Health (CHRO)

Dimension 6: Operational Health (COO)

Dimension 7: Security Health (CISO)

Dimension 8: Market Health (CMO)

Scoring System

Individual Dimension Score

Each dimension scores 1-10 based on weighted metrics:

Dimension Score = Sum(metric_score x metric_weight) / Sum(weights)

Traffic Light:
  Green (7-10):  Healthy -- maintain and optimize
  Yellow (4-6):  Watch -- trend matters (improving or declining?)
  Red (1-3):     Action required -- address within 30 days

Overall Health Score

Weighted average by company stage:

Stage-Adjusted Benchmarks

Different stages have different healthy ranges. A Seed company with 6-month runway is normal; a Series C company with 6-month runway is a crisis.

Cascade Analysis

How Dimension Failures Propagate

This is the most important part of the diagnostic. Problems in one dimension inevitably create problems in others.

Cascade Risk Decision Tree

START: Dimension scores calculated
  |
  v
[Any dimension RED?]
  |
  +-- NO  --> [Any dimension YELLOW with declining trend?]
  |            |
  |            +-- YES --> Monitor cascade. Check connected dimensions.
  |            +-- NO  --> Healthy. Maintain current approach.
  |
  +-- YES --> [Check cascade connections]
              |
              v
            [Are connected dimensions also Yellow/Red?]
              |
              +-- YES --> SYSTEMIC ISSUE. Root cause in the Red dimension.
              |           Address Red dimension first. Connected will improve.
              |
              +-- NO  --> ISOLATED ISSUE. Fix Red dimension before it cascades.
                          Timeline: 30 days or cascade begins.

Dashboard Output Format

ORG HEALTH DIAGNOSTIC -- [Company] -- [Date]
Stage: [Seed/A/B/C]   Overall: [Score]/10   Trend: [Improving/Stable/Declining]

DIMENSION SCORES
------------------------------------------------------------
  Financial     [G] 8.2  Runway 14mo, burn 1.6x
  Revenue       [Y] 5.8  NRR 104%, pipeline thin (1.8x)
  Product       [G] 7.4  NPS 42, DAU/MAU 38%
  Engineering   [Y] 5.2  Debt at 30%, MTTR 3.2h
  People        [R] 3.8  Attrition 24%, eNPS -5
  Operations    [Y] 6.0  OKR 65% completion
  Security      [G] 7.8  SOC 2 complete, 0 incidents
  Market        [Y] 5.5  CAC rising, win rate 22%
------------------------------------------------------------

TOP PRIORITIES (address in order)
[R] 1. People: attrition at 24%
       Impact: Engineering velocity drops in 60 days (cascade risk)
       Action: Retention audit + intervention for top 5 at-risk
       Owner: CHRO + CEO | Timeline: This week

[Y] 2. Revenue: pipeline at 1.8x
       Impact: Q+1 miss risk is high
       Action: Add 3 qualified opps in 30 days or adjust forecast
       Owner: CRO | Timeline: 30 days

[Y] 3. Engineering: tech debt at 30%
       Impact: Shipping velocity slows by Q3
       Action: Dedicated debt sprint plan
       Owner: CTO | Timeline: 45 days

CASCADE WARNING
  People [R] --> Engineering [Y] cascade risk
  If attrition continues: engineering velocity drops -> product delays
  -> revenue impact in 2 quarters

DATA GAPS
  [!] Market: Brand awareness data needed
  [!] Operations: Meeting effectiveness not measured

Graceful Degradation

Not all data is always available. The diagnostic handles partial data:

Diagnostic Cadence

Red Flags

• Any dimension Red for 2+ consecutive months -- systemic problem, not a blip
• 3+ dimensions Yellow simultaneously -- organizational strain, prioritize ruthlessly
• Overall score declining 3+ months -- strategic review needed
• Cascade warning triggered and not addressed in 30 days -- will get worse
• Data gaps persist for 2+ cycles -- measurement culture problem
• Score improving but team sentiment declining -- measurement gaming
• No dimension ever Red -- either the company is exceptional or standards are too low

Integration with C-Suite

Output Artifacts

Troubleshooting

Success Criteria

• All 8 dimensions scored with traffic lights within 5 business days of data collection start
• Cascade analysis correctly predicts downstream impacts: when a Red dimension is not addressed, connected dimensions degrade within 2 quarters
• Stage-adjusted benchmarks applied correctly: Seed company not held to Series C standards and vice versa
• Top 3 priorities identified with specific owners, timelines, and verification methods
• Data gaps reduced by at least 50% between first and second diagnostic cycle
• Board-ready health summary produced quarterly with trend comparison to prior quarter
• Overall health score trending stable or improving over 3 consecutive quarters

Scope & Limitations

• In scope: 8-dimension organizational health scoring, traffic light dashboards, cascade analysis, stage-adjusted benchmarks, graceful degradation for partial data, diagnostic cadence recommendations, board-ready reporting
• Out of scope: Deep functional diagnostics within a single dimension (use the respective C-suite advisor skill); employee engagement survey design and administration (use CHRO Advisor); financial auditing (use external auditors); security penetration testing (use CISO Advisor)
• Limitation: Diagnostic quality depends on data accuracy; garbage in, garbage out applies -- verify data sources
• Limitation: McKinsey OHI benchmarks are based on large enterprise data; early-stage companies may need adjusted benchmarks
• Limitation: The 8-dimension model is a simplification; some organizations may need additional dimensions (e.g., ESG, regulatory) depending on industry
• Limitation: Cascade predictions are based on common patterns; specific organizations may have unique cascade paths

Integration Points

Python Tools