All Case Studies
Case Study
Replacing Daily Chaos With a Clear Operating System for Growth
Problem: Operational Chaos
Company
MadPaws
Industry
Marketplace
Problem
A fast-growing pet services marketplace had no structured operating system — decisions were debated endlessly, priorities shifted constantly, and delivery stalled despite strong demand.
What we built
- • Strategic direction framework (5-year vision to 1-year priorities)
- • Company-wide OKRs translating strategy into execution
- • Structured operating rhythm with quarterly planning and weekly tracking
- • Visibility and accountability system across the organisation
Outcome
- ✔ Revenue increased by ~35% within nine months
- ✔ Happiness score improved from 3.2 to 4.3
- ✔ Repeated conversations largely eliminated
- ✔ Decision-making became faster and clearer
The Situation
Where things stood
MadPaws, a fast-growing online marketplace connecting pet owners with trusted pet sitters and carers was scaling rapidly.
The platform had strong market demand and the team had recently expanded into additional product lines, including pet food.
But internally, the way the company operated had not evolved alongside its growth.
With a team of around 20 people working closely together, the organisation relied heavily on constant discussion to move work forward.
A typical day looked like this:
• The team gathered to talk through projects
• Decisions were debated repeatedly
• Priorities changed frequently
• Important decisions were forgotten
• Teams struggled to maintain focus
The consequences were clear:
• Delivery was slow
• Conversations repeated endlessly
• Teams felt drained from constant discussion
• Important decisions were difficult to track
• Progress stalled despite strong market demand
The business had a successful product and strong growth potential.
But the internal operating system for how work moved through the company had never been properly designed.
The Bottleneck
What was actually in the way
When we stepped back and mapped how the company was actually operating, the underlying problem became clear.
The company had ambitious growth goals, but no clear structure translating those goals into day-to-day execution.
Several structural gaps existed:
• The company had no clearly defined strategic direction beyond revenue growth
• Teams did not know what should be prioritised
• Decisions were not documented clearly
• Work was tracked across scattered Google Docs and spreadsheets
• Conversations replaced systems
Because priorities weren't clearly defined, teams constantly questioned decisions and revisited the same discussions.
The same conversations happened again and again.
What looked like a communication problem was actually a missing operating system for decision-making and execution.
The Fix
What we built
To stabilise the organisation and support growth, we rebuilt the company's operating rhythm from the top down.
1. Clarifying the Strategic Direction
We began by defining a clear company trajectory.
Instead of focusing only on revenue targets, we created a structured strategy framework including:
• a 5-year vision
• a 4-year direction
• 3-year milestones
• 2-year focus areas
• 1-year priorities
This gave leadership clarity on where the company was actually heading.
2. Translating Strategy into Execution
Next, we implemented company-wide OKRs (Objectives and Key Results).
These translated the strategic direction into measurable outcomes.
Each quarter:
• leadership defined the most important company objectives
• teams defined measurable results
• key initiatives were aligned to those goals
This allowed every team member to clearly see:
• what mattered most
• what success looked like
• how their work contributed to company growth.
3. Introducing a Clear Operating Rhythm
Instead of constant daily conversations, the company adopted a structured execution cadence:
• quarterly planning cycles
• weekly progress tracking
• clear ownership of initiatives
• documented decisions
One key rule was introduced:
The same conversation should never happen twice.
Once a decision was made, it was documented so teams could move forward.
4. Creating Visibility and Accountability
To support the new operating rhythm, we implemented a system that made goals, progress, and feedback visible across the organisation.
This allowed teams to easily track:
• progress against OKRs
• project milestones
• individual and team performance
Leadership gained much clearer visibility into how the company was executing.
Meetings were also recorded and transcribed so important discussions and decisions could be referenced easily.
This removed the need to rely on memory or repeat conversations.
Tool Layer
The operating system was supported by a small number of enabling tools.
15Five
• company-wide OKR tracking
• progress visibility across teams
• weekly check-ins and reporting
• leadership feedback loops
Otter AI
• meeting transcription
• capturing important decisions
• sharing discussion summaries with teams
The tools supported the system — they were not the system.
The Outcome
What changed
- ✔Rework and duplicated effort dropped dramatically
- ✔Repeated conversations were largely eliminated
- ✔Teams spent far less time in meetings
- ✔Decision-making became faster and clearer
- ✔Happiness score increased from 3.2 to 4.3
- ✔Revenue increased by approximately 35% within nine months
The Human Payoff
What it actually meant
The biggest shift wasn't just operational — it was how the team experienced their work.
Before the new operating system:
• teams felt stuck in endless discussions
• leaders struggled to maintain clarity on priorities
• people found it difficult to focus on their actual work
Once the new operating rhythm was established:
• teams could focus on execution instead of constant alignment
• leaders had clarity about where the business was heading
• individuals received clearer feedback and growth opportunities
• the organisation moved faster with far less friction
Instead of spending their days in endless discussion, the team now had a shared operating system that allowed them to move forward confidently.