Scott Guirlinger
Product Design & Organizational Leadership
Product Design & Organizational Leadership
Challenge
When I became Executive Manager of User Experience at Octave, the UX organization was fragmented — distributed across four continents with inconsistent practices, unclear career paths, and a retention problem that had become a strategic liability. High voluntary attrition had resulted in the loss of several key team members over a short period, disrupting continuity on key products and eroding institutional knowledge at a critical point in the company's growth. The organization also lacked consistent operating practices, leadership capacity, and clear development pathways across regions.
But the challenge wasn't just operational. It was cultural. The team needed to believe the organization was worth investing in — and that leadership was invested in them.
Approach
Diagnosing the real problem first
Rather than immediately restructuring or introducing new tooling, I began by listening — conducting individual conversations across the team to understand what was working, what wasn't, and what people actually needed to do their best work. This surfaced patterns that wouldn't have been visible from a org chart alone.
Creating a shared vision for the organization
Rather than imposing a top-down transformation, I facilitated strategic planning workshops that brought team members into the process of defining priorities, identifying challenges, and shaping solutions. This created ownership at every level of the organization and helped turn strategic goals into shared commitments rather than management directives.
Building a talent development infrastructure
I established clear role levels, defined growth expectations at each stage, and created a performance management model that rewarded both craft and collaboration. Each team member received a personalized development plan tied to both organizational needs and individual career aspirations, creating a stronger pipeline for future leaders.
Designed an operating model that could scale
As the organization grew prior to my arrival, management responsibilities had evolved organically, leading to overlapping ownership in some areas and gaps in others. I worked with leaders to clarify roles, decision-making authority, and expectations, creating a more adaptable structure that reduced friction and positioned the organization to scale effectively.
Creating a culture of engagement and belonging
For a globally distributed team, belonging doesn't happen by accident. I implemented regular rituals — team showcases, async collaboration norms, and recognition practices — that made people feel connected to something larger than their immediate project.
Diagnosis | Action | Outcome |
Fragmented global organization | Strategic planning workshops | Shared ownership |
Unclear career paths | Defined growth framework | Internal promotions |
Ambiguous leadership roles and overlapping responsibilities | Defined leadership model, decision ownership, and accountability | Greater agility and organizational scalability |
Geographic silos | Communication ecosystem | Stronger engagement |
Retention risk | Culture investment | 0% voluntary attrition |
Results
- Built a stable, high-performing team of 25+ across the US, Europe, Asia, and Latin America
- Established a scalable management model that enabled regional autonomy without sacrificing global coherence
- Built leadership and career pathways — promoted team members into management roles, supported cross-functional career growth, and expanded opportunities for emerging talent
- Improved team-reported engagement scores year-over-year through focused investment in leadership development, communication, and team culture
- Reduced voluntary attrition to 0% — a 60-point improvement over three years, from a baseline that had been creating significant business disruption
The most meaningful outcome wasn't the attrition number—it was building an organization where people had clarity, ownership, and opportunities to grow.
Leadership Reflection
This experience reinforced a lesson I've seen repeatedly throughout my career: organizational problems rarely have purely organizational solutions. Retention challenges, performance issues, and operational inefficiencies are often symptoms of deeper issues around clarity, trust, and opportunity. Sustainable transformation comes not from restructuring alone, but from creating an environment where people understand how they contribute, feel ownership of the outcome, and see a path for growth.
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Developing Leaders at Every Level
How leadership capacity became the foundation for organizational scale.
How leadership capacity became the foundation for organizational scale.
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