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The smoothest reorg": lessons in collaborative org design • Joakim Sundén • GOTO Copenhagen 2026

The Brief

  • Joakim Sundén describes applying lessons from Spotify's collaborative approach to org design at a fast-growing B2B scale-up facing a strategy and team topology shift.
  • The talk covers what worked and what didn't, and how the team used ideas from Team Topologies and self-selection.
  • Topics include involving teams in mission, boundaries and structure, and designing organizations top-down versus with the people closest to the work.
  • It offers practical patterns, pitfalls and facilitation tips for involving teams directly in org design.

Why watch · A developer or engineering leader planning a reorg may find practical patterns for involving teams directly in org design rather than imposing changes top-down.

  • Org design
  • Team Topologies
  • Spotify model
  • Reorganization

Summarised by Claude from the video’s title and description – no transcript was available, so check the video for the details.

Chapters

  1. 0:00Intro
  2. 0:20The Smoothest Reorg I've ever seen - Who am i?
  3. 1:11What's One Word That Pops Into Your Head When You Think Of A "Re-Org"
  4. 3:13Done TO People And Not WITH People - Some problems
  5. 5:21Why Do Smart Leaders Keep Designing Organizations Top-Down?
  6. 8:25What If The People Closest To The Work Helped Design The Organization
  7. 12:08How Do You Safely Empower People?
  8. 17:58Change How Change Happen
  9. 19:22Give People A Destination
  10. 21:27Teach People How To Design Organizations
  11. 23:40Agree What You're Optimizing For
  12. 25:00Explore Alternatives? Strategic Context Determines Team Topology
  13. 27:32Make teams Explicit
  14. 29:33Evolve The Design And Expand The "Design Team"
  15. 30:57Let People Self-Select
  16. 32:45Will It Work? It's Not The Org Chart
  17. 34:25Context, Clarity, Competence and Control
  18. 36:58Principles That Made It Work
  19. 37:44Outro - Thanks for listening
Show the full video description ›

This presentation was recorded at GOTO Copenhagen 2026. #GOTOcon #GOTOcph Join us at GOTO Copenhagen 2027, October 4–8. https://gotocph.com/2027?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=cph26-talks Joakim Sundén - Founding partner at Better Product Work and co-creator of the Spotify model @joakimsunden3557 RESOURCES https://x.com/joakimsunden https://www.linkedin.com/in/joakimsunden https://joakimsunden.com/ https://bsky.app/profile/joakimsunden.bsky.social https://gotopia.tech/experts/1286/joakim-sunden ABSTRACT Most reorgs create confusion and friction. Spotify developed a more collaborative way of approaching org design, where teams help shape their missions, boundaries and structure. This talk is a career experience report about taking the lessons from that work and applying a similar approach, which we now call Collaborative Org Design, years later at a fast-growing B2B scale-up facing a shift in strategy and team topology. Joakim will share what worked, what didn’t, how his team used ideas from Team Topologies and self-selection, and how initial skepticism turned into comments like “this was the smoothest reorg I’ve ever seen.” You’ll leave with practical patterns, pitfalls and facilitation tips for involving teams directly in org design. TIMECODES 00:00 Intro 00:20 The Smoothest Reorg I've ever seen - Who am i? 01:11 What's One Word That Pops Into Your Head When You Think Of A "Re-Org" 03:13 Done TO People And Not WITH People - Some problems 05:21 Why Do Smart Leaders Keep Designing Organizations Top-Down? 08:25 What If The People Closest To The Work Helped Design The Organization 12:08 How Do You Safely Empower People? 17:58 Change How Change Happen 19:22 Give People A Destination 21:27 Teach People How To Design Organizations 23:40 Agree What You're Optimizing For 25:00 Explore Alternatives? Strategic Context Determines Team Topology 27:32 Make teams Explicit 29:33 Evolve The Design And Expand The "Design Team" 30:57 Let People Self-Select 32:45 Will It Work? It's Not The Org Chart 34:25 Context, Clarity, Competence and Control 36:58 Principles That Made It Work 37:44 Outro - Thanks for listening Download slides and read the full abstract here: https://gotocph.com/2026/sessions/4221 https://bsky.app/profile/gotocon.com https://www.linkedin.com/company/goto- https://www.instagram.com/goto_con #GOTOcph #GOTO #[topic] #[topic] #[SpeakerName] HEAR TALKS LIKE THIS LIVE GOTO Copenhagen 2027, October 4–8. Five days of talks, master