Fix-Build-Unleash Turnaround Sequence
Repair self-inflicted failures before building a purpose-led growth engine
- Difficulty
- Expert
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 8
- Confidence
- 97%
The Fix-Build-Unleash Turnaround Sequence begins with diagnosis: determine whether external demand has vanished or whether the company's wounds are self-inflicted. If customers and partners still need the business, listen to frontline employees and repair concrete failures such as uncompetitive pricing, poor digital experiences, slow fulfillment, or degraded service. Simultaneously build the right leadership team, pursue customer-led revenue growth, and reserve headcount reductions for genuine necessity rather than using cuts as the opening move. Once the company is stable, shift from rescue to reinvention by defining a purpose broad enough to guide future growth. Finally, connect individual motivations to that purpose and create conditions in which employees can contribute their best work. The output is not merely survival but an energized, strategically renewed organization.
Origin
Extracted from Masters in Business through Hubert Joly's account of Best Buy's turnaround and subsequent purpose-led transformation.
Core principles
- 01Determine whether the market is broken or the company is failing itself.
- 02Frontline employees often know which operating failures matter most.
- 03Repair customer value before defaulting to layoffs and closures.
- 04Build the right leadership team to mobilize the organization.
- 05After stabilization, define a purpose that expands opportunity and energizes people.
How to run it
- 1
Test the underlying market
Establish whether customers and strategic partners still need the company and whether its core assets remain valuable.
Pro tip Interview customers, vendors, and frontline staff rather than relying only on market narratives.
Watch out Do not assume a falling share price proves the business model is dead.
- 2
Identify self-inflicted failures
Separate external threats from fixable internal problems in pricing, channels, fulfillment, service, costs, and management.
Pro tip Turn each diagnosis into an observable operating problem with an owner.
Watch out A broad label such as disruption is not a useful root cause.
- 3
Listen at the frontline
Spend time where employees serve customers and ask what prevents them from doing good work. Use their answers to set early priorities.
Pro tip Visit operations personally during the opening stage of the turnaround.
Watch out Do not treat frontline listening as ceremonial if decisions are already fixed.
- 4
Repair customer value
Fix the broken experiences that make customers leave, including price, availability, digital usability, delivery, and in-person service.
Pro tip Prioritize changes that quickly remove reasons not to buy.
Watch out Avoid cosmetic repositioning while basic execution remains poor.
- 5
Build and mobilize the team
Install the right senior leaders and align the wider organization around a manageable set of customer-focused actions.
Pro tip Give employees enough authority to solve customer problems at the point of service.
Watch out A new strategy without capable, coordinated leadership will stall.
- 6
Make cuts the last resort
Pursue revenue improvement and operational repair before using large-scale headcount reduction as the main turnaround mechanism.
Pro tip Remove waste that does not weaken customer value or critical capabilities.
Watch out Indiscriminate cuts can destroy the people and assets required for recovery.
- 7
Define the future purpose
After stabilization, articulate the human need the company serves rather than describing it only by its existing product category.
Pro tip Use purpose to reveal adjacent opportunities and a larger addressable market.
Watch out Do not use a purpose statement to distract from unresolved operating failures.
- 8
Unleash human contribution
Connect what motivates employees with the company's purpose and create an environment where they can perform at their best.
Pro tip Invite individuals to explain what drives them rather than simply cascading corporate language.
Watch out Purpose imposed from the top rarely creates intrinsic motivation.
In the wild
Joly found that customers still needed a place to experience technology and vendors still needed a physical showcase. The failures—pricing, online shopping, shipping, store experience, and costs—were largely internal. Best Buy listened to frontline staff, fixed those problems, strengthened leadership, and focused on customer-led growth. After saving the company, it reframed itself as enriching lives through technology and used that purpose to mobilize employees and expand strategic possibilities.
→ Best Buy recovered from a widely predicted collapse and became a valuable, purpose-led omnichannel business.
Common mistakes
Assuming disruption means extinction
A threatening competitor can hide the fact that customers and partners still value assets the incumbent already possesses.
Leading with indiscriminate cuts
Closing profitable locations or removing essential employees can weaken the recovery instead of financing it.
Declaring purpose before fixing basics
Employees and customers will distrust an aspirational purpose if pricing, service, and execution remain broken.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for organizations with continuing customer demand but deteriorating execution, credibility, and employee energy.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for businesses whose market has disappeared or whose finances cannot support an operational recovery period.
From the transcript
“All of the problems were self inflicted.”
“if the problem yourself inflicted, you can fix it.”
From the episode
Hubert Joly on the Heart of Business (Podcast)
Hubert Joly