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
The 8 Dimensions
Dimension Overview
| # | Dimension | C-Suite Owner | Core Question |
|---|
| 1 | Financial Health | CFO | Can we fund operations and invest in growth? |
| 2 | Revenue Health | CRO | Are customers staying, growing, and recommending us? |
| 3 | Product Health | CPO | Do customers love and use the product? |
| 4 | Engineering Health | CTO | Can we ship reliably and sustain velocity? |
| 5 | People Health | CHRO | Is the team stable, engaged, and growing? |
| 6 | Operational Health | COO | Are we executing our strategy with discipline? |
| 7 | Security Health | CISO | Are we protecting customers and maintaining compliance? |
| 8 | Market Health | CMO | Are we winning in the market and growing efficiently? |
Dimension 1: Financial Health (CFO)
| Metric | Green (7-10) | Yellow (4-6) | Red (1-3) |
|---|
| Runway (months) | > 18 | 9-18 | < 9 |
| Burn multiple | < 1.5x | 1.5-2.5x | > 2.5x |
| Gross margin | > 70% | 55-70% | < 55% |
| Revenue concentration (top customer) | < 10% | 10-20% | > 20% |
| MoM growth rate | Above benchmark | At benchmark | Below benchmark |
Dimension 2: Revenue Health (CRO)
| Metric | Green (7-10) | Yellow (4-6) | Red (1-3) |
|---|
| NRR | > 110% | 100-110% | < 100% |
| Logo churn (annual) | < 5% | 5-10% | > 10% |
| Pipeline coverage (next Q) | > 3x | 2-3x | < 2x |
| CAC payback | < 12 months | 12-18 months | > 18 months |
| Win rate | > 25% | 15-25% | < 15% |
Dimension 3: Product Health (CPO)
| Metric | Green (7-10) | Yellow (4-6) | Red (1-3) |
|---|
| NPS | > 40 | 20-40 | < 20 |
| DAU/MAU ratio | > 40% | 20-40% | < 20% |
| Core feature adoption | > 60% | 30-60% | < 30% |
| Time to value | Decreasing QoQ | Stable | Increasing QoQ |
| CSAT | > 4.2/5 | 3.5-4.2 | < 3.5 |
Dimension 4: Engineering Health (CTO)
| Metric | Green (7-10) | Yellow (4-6) | Red (1-3) |
|---|
| Deploy frequency | Daily | Weekly | Monthly or less |
| Change failure rate | < 5% | 5-15% | > 15% |
| MTTR | < 1 hour | 1-4 hours | > 4 hours |
| Tech debt ratio (% of sprint) | < 20% | 20-35% | > 35% |
| P0/P1 incidents per month | < 2 | 2-5 | > 5 |
Dimension 5: People Health (CHRO)
| Metric | Green (7-10) | Yellow (4-6) | Red (1-3) |
|---|
| Regrettable attrition (annual) | < 10% | 10-20% | > 20% |
| eNPS | > 30 | 0-30 | < 0 |
| Time to fill (avg days) | < 45 | 45-90 | > 90 |
| Manager:IC ratio | 1:5-1:8 | 1:3-1:5 or 1:8-1:12 | Outside range |
| Internal promotion rate | > 30% | 15-30% | < 15% |
Dimension 6: Operational Health (COO)
| Metric | Green (7-10) | Yellow (4-6) | Red (1-3) |
|---|
| OKR completion rate | > 70% | 50-70% | < 50% |
| Decision cycle time | < 48 hours | 48hrs-1 week | > 1 week |
| Meeting effectiveness | Clear outcomes | Mixed | No outcomes |
| Cross-functional initiative completion | > 80% on time | 50-80% | < 50% |
| Process documentation coverage | > 70% | 40-70% | < 40% |
Dimension 7: Security Health (CISO)
| Metric | Green (7-10) | Yellow (4-6) | Red (1-3) |
|---|
| Security incidents (90 days) | 0 | 1-2 minor | 1+ major |
| Compliance status | All current | In progress | Overdue/lapsed |
| Critical vuln remediation SLA | 100% in SLA | > 90% | < 90% |
| Security training completion | > 95% | 80-95% | < 80% |
| Pen test recency | < 12 months | 12-24 months | > 24 months |
Dimension 8: Market Health (CMO)
| Metric | Green (7-10) | Yellow (4-6) | Red (1-3) |
|---|
| CAC trend | Improving QoQ | Stable | Worsening QoQ |
| Organic vs paid lead mix | > 50% organic | 30-50% organic | < 30% organic |
| Win rate vs competitors | Improving | Stable | Declining |
| Brand awareness (in ICP) | > 40% | 20-40% | < 20% |
| Pipeline contribution (marketing) | > 40% | 20-40% | < 20% |
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:
| Dimension | Seed Weight | Series A | Series B | Series C+ |
|---|
| Financial | 20% | 15% | 15% | 15% |
| Revenue | 10% | 20% | 20% | 20% |
| Product | 25% | 20% | 15% | 10% |
| Engineering | 15% | 15% | 15% | 10% |
| People | 10% | 10% | 15% | 15% |
| Operations | 5% | 10% | 10% | 15% |
| Security | 5% | 5% | 5% | 10% |
| Market | 10% | 5% | 5% | 5% |
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.
| Stage | Runway Target | Burn Multiple | Team Size | Revenue Threshold |
|---|
| Seed | > 12 months | Not applicable | 2-10 | Pre-revenue acceptable |
| Series A | > 18 months | < 3x | 10-40 | > $500K ARR |
| Series B | > 18 months | < 2x | 30-100 | > $3M ARR |
| Series C+ | > 24 months | < 1.5x | 80-300 | > $15M ARR |
Cascade Analysis
How Dimension Failures Propagate
This is the most important part of the diagnostic. Problems in one dimension inevitably create problems in others.
| If This Is Red... | Watch These Next... | Why |
|---|
| Financial | People -> Engineering -> Product | Budget cuts -> hiring freeze -> velocity drops -> product stalls |
| Revenue | Financial -> People -> Market | Cash gap -> attrition risk -> positioning weakens |
| Product | Revenue -> Market -> People | NRR drops -> CAC rises -> top talent leaves |
| Engineering | Product -> Revenue | Features slip -> deals stall on missing features |
| People | Engineering -> Product -> Revenue | Velocity drops -> quality drops -> churn rises |
| Operations | ALL dimensions degrade over time | Execution failure cascades everywhere |
| Security | Revenue (enterprise) -> Financial | Enterprise deals blocked -> revenue impact |
| Market | Revenue -> Financial | Lead pipeline dries up -> sales suffers |
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:
| Data Availability | Approach |
|---|
| All metrics available | Full scoring, all dimensions |
| Missing 1-2 metrics per dimension | Score available metrics, flag gaps |
| Missing entire dimension | Exclude from overall score, flag as "[data needed]" |
| Only 3-4 dimensions have data | Partial diagnostic, clearly marked |
Diagnostic Cadence
| Frequency | Scope | Audience |
|---|
| Weekly | Scorecard metrics only (2-3 per dimension) | Leadership team |
| Monthly | Full 8-dimension assessment | CEO + direct reports |
| Quarterly | Deep diagnostic with cascade analysis + benchmarks | Board-ready report |
| Annual | Full diagnostic + year-over-year comparison + strategy implications | Board + investors |
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
| Dimension | Owner Skill | Drill-Down |
|---|
| Financial | CFO Advisor (cfo-advisor
) | Deep financial analysis |
| Revenue | CRO Advisor (cro-advisor
) | Pipeline and retention analysis |
| Product | CPO Advisor (cpo-advisor
) | PMF assessment and portfolio review |
| Engineering | CTO Advisor (cto-advisor
) | Technical health and debt analysis |
| People | CHRO Advisor (chro-advisor
) | Retention, engagement, org design |
| Operations | COO Advisor (coo-advisor
) | Process maturity, execution cadence |
| Security | CISO Advisor (ciso-advisor
) | Risk register, compliance status |
| Market | CMO Advisor (cmo-advisor
) | Positioning, channel effectiveness |
Output Artifacts
| Request | Deliverable |
|---|
| "How healthy is the company?" | Full 8-dimension dashboard with traffic lights |
| "What should we fix first?" | Prioritized action list with cascade analysis |
| "Prepare health section for board" | Board-ready health summary with trends |
| "Compare to last quarter" | Quarter-over-quarter comparison with trend arrows |
| "Where are we at risk?" | Cascade risk map with interconnected failures |
| "What data do we need?" | Data gap analysis with collection recommendations |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely Cause | Resolution |
|---|
| Scores consistently show all green but team sentiment is negative | Metrics being gamed or standards set too low; measurement doesn't capture reality | Cross-reference quantitative scores with qualitative signals (exit interviews, Glassdoor, skip-level conversations); raise benchmarks to industry-standard levels |
| Cascade analysis shows systemic issue but leadership disagrees | Red dimension owners resistant to acknowledging problems | Present cascade evidence with data: "People Red for 2 months → Engineering Yellow → Product delays in pipeline"; use McKinsey OHI principle of benchmarking against external data |
| Data gaps persist across multiple diagnostic cycles | No measurement infrastructure; teams don't prioritize data collection | Assign data collection to specific owners with deadlines; start with proxy metrics where direct measurement is unavailable |
| Diagnostic takes too long to produce (> 2 weeks) | Trying to measure everything perfectly instead of using available data | Apply graceful degradation: score what you have, flag gaps, iterate; a partial diagnostic now beats a perfect one in 6 weeks |
| Different stakeholders interpret traffic light scores differently | No shared understanding of what Green/Yellow/Red means operationally | Document specific thresholds for each metric in each dimension; share calibration examples ("Red runway = less than 9 months at current burn") |
| Quarterly diagnostic shows no change despite interventions | Wrong interventions, or interventions not given enough time, or measuring lagging indicators | Verify interventions target root cause not symptoms; check leading indicators alongside lagging ones; allow 2 quarters for structural changes to show in scores |
| Board wants a single number but diagnostic is multi-dimensional | Board unfamiliar with the 8-dimension model | Provide the weighted overall score (1-10) as headline with stage-adjusted weighting; drill-down dimensions available on request |
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
| Skill | Integration | Data Flow |
|---|
cfo-advisor
| Financial Health dimension deep dive | Health financial score → CFO detailed analysis |
cro-advisor
| Revenue Health dimension deep dive | Health revenue score → CRO pipeline review |
cpo-advisor
| Product Health dimension deep dive | Health product score → CPO PMF assessment |
cto-advisor
| Engineering Health dimension deep dive | Health engineering score → CTO tech debt plan |
chro-advisor
| People Health dimension deep dive | Health people score → CHRO retention strategy |
coo-advisor
| Operational Health dimension deep dive | Health operations score → COO process review |
ciso-advisor
| Security Health dimension deep dive | Health security score → CISO risk register |
cmo-advisor
| Market Health dimension deep dive | Health market score → CMO channel review |
strategic-alignment
| Health scores inform alignment priorities | Health priorities → Alignment focus areas |
executive-mentor
| Red dimensions trigger executive coaching focus | Health red flags → Mentor challenge areas |
Python Tools
| Tool | Purpose | Usage |
|---|
scripts/org_health_scorer.py
| Score all 8 dimensions with traffic lights, stage-adjusted weighting, and overall health calculation | python scripts/org_health_scorer.py --stage series-a --financial 7.5 --revenue 5.8 --product 7.2 --engineering 5.0 --people 3.5 --operations 6.0 --security 7.8 --market 5.5 --json
|
scripts/span_of_control_analyzer.py
| Analyze manager-to-IC ratios across the organization and flag unhealthy spans | python scripts/span_of_control_analyzer.py --org-file org_structure.csv --json
|
scripts/engagement_benchmarker.py
| Benchmark engagement metrics against industry standards and flag gaps | python scripts/engagement_benchmarker.py --enps 15 --attrition 18 --time-to-fill 60 --promotion-rate 20 --industry saas --json
|
