Stabilize failing work, name the real story, stop the bleeding, and rebuild delivery confidence — without blaming everyone who was there before.
A turnaround begins when people feel the difference between spin and truth — the kind of truth that makes it possible to decide, repair, protect, stop, restart, or move.
This kit is for leaders brought into a failing initiative, troubled program, broken team, post-failure recovery, or underperforming department — where the first instinct is usually to announce a plan before the room trusts that reality has finally been named. The goal isn’t inspiration yet. It’s containment, clarity, recovery, and enough visible movement for people to believe the work can be led again. Open it under pressure and you’ll know exactly what to do next.
It doesn’t ask the new leader to blame the previous team, perform confidence, or pretend the past didn’t happen. It helps you read the real story and act on it.
A troubled program is never only broken. Something is holding it together — name it and protect it before the turnaround damages the last of the trust.
Not a town hall where everyone performs accountability for forty-seven minutes. The kind of truth that makes it possible to decide, repair, and move.
Ten assets plus a twelve-week practice rhythm — sequenced for the first 72 hours, 30 days, and 90 days.
The First 72 Hours Triage and the Broken/Working/Hidden map contain the damage and tell you what reality you’re standing inside.
The Damage Assessment, Stop the Bleeding Filter, and Decision Backlog Excavation surface what’s buried and stop what’s bleeding.
The Stakeholder Confidence Reset, Team Story Reset, and Visible Wins guide rebuild trust without false hope.
The 30- and 90-day plans and the 12-week rhythm rebuild the system so the work isn’t dependent on heroics, fear, or reputation management.
0–12h contain panic · 12–24h stabilize the narrative · 24–48h find the real constraints · 48–72h create first containment moves. What to do — and what not to do — in each window.
Stop what’s making it worse, pause the noise, protect what works, escalate what can’t be solved here, move the few things that prove this can be led.
Unmade, reopened, shadow, avoided-trade-off, and decision-without-consequence — the buried decisions that quietly keep failing programs failing.
When Rowan asked, “What is actually broken?” the room stayed quiet. Then someone from operations said, “Do you mean what’s broken, or what we’re allowed to say is broken?” Rowan closed her notebook. “Let’s start there.” The program didn’t need a heroic new leader — it needed a leader willing to stop pretending the plan was the same thing as reality.
For internal leadership, PMO, HR, and transformation use.
Request a quote →A facilitated review of current state, damage, decisions, and stabilization priorities.
Advisory support to stabilize a troubled program or department.
Eventually — but not first. A turnaround doesn’t begin with a new plan; it begins when people trust that reality is finally being named. The kit uses the first 72 hours to stabilize the story, the first 30 days to create decision clarity and visible credibility, and the first 90 days to rebuild the system. The plan lands when it’s credible.
No — the opposite. It explicitly separates system failure from individual effort, and it’s built to stop the “blame inheritance” pattern where a new leader is encouraged to fault the people who were already carrying the mess. You name the patterns that made delivery harder, not the people.
Yes. Team/PMO and organization licenses cover wider use, and the kit maps directly to Direction, Structure, Culture, and Contribution so it fits how PMOs and transformation offices already think about troubled programs. The Turnaround Readiness Review brings a facilitator into the current-state assessment.
The First 72 Hours Turnaround Triage — there’s a “Start Here” button that takes you straight to it. The goal isn’t to announce the new plan; it’s to stop adding damage, learn what’s real, and identify the first containment moves.
Share a few details and we’ll get the kit to you — plus a suggested first move for this week.