Incentive Mapping

If the strategy deck says aligned but the P&L says otherwise.

Find out what your organisation is actually optimising for. Every incentive, formal and informal, mapped against strategic intent. Compensation is one layer. Beneath it: what gets measured, what gets celebrated, what gets funded, who gets promoted.

You get a contradiction analysis showing where incentives oppose each other, a redesign plan with second-order effect modelling, and a measurement framework so alignment holds after we leave.

One senior consultant. Direct access. No handoff.

CEOs and founders whose transformation programmes stall at the same point every cycle. The strategy is sound. The people are capable. Something structural keeps pulling execution off course.

Post-merger leadership reconciling two invisible incentive architectures. The org chart merged. The reward systems didn't. Every department optimises for a different definition of success.

Boards and investors asking why strategy and behaviour keep diverging. The plans are approved. The metrics move sideways. Someone needs to show where the invisible drag lives.

Operations leaders watching departments optimise for contradictory goals. Sales discounts to hit volume targets. Product adds features to hit release counts. Finance cuts costs that other teams need to grow. Rational people, irrational outcomes.

Scoping Conversation

Where the execution gap appears. Which strategies keep stalling. Which departments pull in opposite directions. Where behaviour contradicts intent and nobody can explain why. This conversation defines the scope: which functions to map, which incentive layers to examine, and what the redesign needs to achieve.

Map the Actual Incentive System

We interview across functions and levels. Analyse promotion patterns. Track where resources flow versus where policy says they should. The real incentive map emerges from observed behaviour, not documentation. Every contradiction is a source of drag. Every alignment is a point of leverage. The map renders the invisible system visible.

Contradiction Analysis

Formally catalogue every point where incentives contradict strategy. Sales rewarded for volume while strategy demands margin. Innovation encouraged while failure punished. Collaboration expected while compensation is individual. Each contradiction is scored by severity and drag on execution. The analysis reveals which misalignments are causing the most damage and which are merely annoying.

Redesign for Alignment

Incentive systems are coupled. Change one variable and others shift in ways that are not obvious until they have already done damage. We model second-order effects before recommending anything. What compensating behaviours emerge when sales metrics change? Which teams need new measures and which simply need old ones removed? Fewer contradictions. Stronger signals pointing the same direction as strategy.

Sequence and Measure

Changes ordered so early wins build evidence for later ones. Behavioural baselines established before anything moves. Pilot programmes in targeted teams. Leading indicators defined so you see drift before it becomes damage.

Monitor for Second-Order Effects

Incentive changes create compensating behaviours. Some are predictable. Some are not. The measurement framework catches drift early. If second-order effects surface — gaming, workarounds, unintended consequences — we adjust the redesign before the new system creates its own contradictions. The loop continues until behaviour aligns with intent.

Present, Handoff, and Monitoring Framework

We walk your team through every finding, every contradiction, and the logic behind each recommendation. Questions answered live. Then full handoff: the incentive map, the contradiction analysis, the redesign plan, the implementation sequence, and the monitoring framework. Everything you need to act. Nothing you need us for.

No obligation. No pitch. Just specifics.