Wojtek Cieplik, industry consultant at Brandt Partners, shares some best practices for how design studios can change their processes to better protect their designs.

Viruses do not cause every illness; vulnerability does. Lighting is similar. The pains specifiers feel on site – glare that slips through, installs that fight back, submittals that ping‑pong – rarely trace to the light fitting alone. They trace to the organisation’s terrain: portfolio sprawl, brittle development cycles and decision rights no one can draw on a page. This is my conviction: most site failures start in governance or alignment, not mistakes of a designer or a salesperson.

Architectural readers know the symptoms:

• Install friction from unclear fixings
• Visual comfort missed because UGR guidance is absent or hard to act on
• Photometric claims that do not match test conditions
• Submittals bounced because environmental and compliance data live in PDFs and inboxes
• Spectral stewardship treated as rhetoric while human and nature‑centred constraints arrive late

Five operating levers that change site outcomes

1) Portfolio and variant immunity

• Prune low‑value variants by 25-35% in two passes
• Door A/B/C rules for Configuration, Variant and Custom
• Modular platforms: mounting, optics families, standardised drivers

2) Process immunity

• Short, gated development (3-4‑week artefacts): proto photometrics, installer mock‑ups, supplier confirmations, compliance flags
• Pre‑qualified parts to absorb EOL shocks

3) Documentation immunity

• Single source of truth for submittals: datasheets, certifications, environmental documents, IES/LDT, install guides, BIM
• Pictorial one‑pagers + 60‑second QR micro‑videos for tricky steps

4) Governance immunity

• Named mini business owner per family
• Decision rights on one page
• WIP cap: ≤ 2 live NPD items per family; single‑page dashboard of leading indicators

5) Sustainability immunity

• Design for disassembly, repairability and migration paths
• Where relevant, pair TM66/EPD with spectral and wildlife guardrails at gates

From diagnosis to action

In recent SME turnarounds, the changes that moved the needle were organisational, not technical. A rapid organisational diagnostic locates the weak spots in the terrain. Where leaders need high‑resolution visibility into time use, talent retention and organisational blind spots, a short enterprise health audit precedes the 12‑week sequence. Two decisions a week for 12 weeks then shift outcomes. Track targets: first‑pass submittal rate ≥ 85%, premium freight ≤ 1.5% of revenue, returns -30% on targeted SKUs within two quarters.

When a diagnostic makes sense

• Time use is opaque, and meetings crowd out design and delivery
• Decision rights for variants, pricing and sunsetting are unclear or escalate by default
• Submittal data lives across PDFs and inboxes, first‑pass approvals are low
• Talent churn or disengagement signs appear, or leadership alignment is disputed

What changes on site when the terrain improves

• First‑pass submittals go up; RFIs per project go down
• Install time on tricky assemblies halves
• Lead‑time variance shrinks; premium freight becomes the exception
• Glare guidance and spectral envelopes move from slideware to trusted documentation

Organisational levers → site outcomes (at a glance)

Organisational lever: Portfolio and variant immunity → What changes: fewer one‑offs, clearer boundaries → Site metric: premium freight ≤ 1.5% revenue

Organisational lever: Process immunity (gated development) → What changes: risks surfaced early → Site metric: lead‑time variance -20%+

Organisational lever: Documentation immunity (single source) → What changes: credible packs → Site metric: first‑pass submittals ≥ 85%

Organisational lever: Governance immunity (decision rights, WIP cap) → What changes: faster, consistent decisions → Site metric: RFIs per project -25%+

Organisational lever: Sustainability immunity (guardrails at gates) → What changes: health and nature constraints built‑in → Site metric: zero glare‑related RFIs on pilot

Three short vignettes

• Decision rights fog → clarity in weeks

Problem: variant requests escalated to three directors; no Door A/B/C; quote engineering hours ballooned; premium freight creeping

Intervention: one‑page decision‑rights map; published Door A/B/C with SLAs; mini business owner; NPD WIP capped at two per family

Outcomes (10 weeks): first‑pass submittal rate 86 → 92%; premium freight 2.1 → 1.3 percent; RFIs per project -28%

• Single source of truth → fewer returns, faster installs

Problem: environmental and certification data scattered; submittals bounced; installer packs inconsistent

Intervention: submittal single source of truth; pictorial one‑pagers with 60‑second QR micro‑videos; weekly first‑pass yield review

Outcomes: first‑pass submittals +18 points; returns -33%; average install time on a tricky assembly -46%

• Leadership archetype in place → portfolio discipline

Problem: portfolio creep and brittle cycles; no one accountable for glare and spectral guardrails; mounting decisions ad hoc

Intervention: Platform Product Lead; pruned 27% of options; modular platform; guardrails at gates

Outcomes: lead‑time variance -22%; engineering hours per quote 30%; contractor NPS up; glare‑related RFIs on pilot → zero

Why this matters now

Market pressure is not letting up: shutdown waves in Zhongshan, Foshan and Dongguan; US brand liquidations; margin compression across Europe. Meanwhile, Milan shows the design frontier is alive — yet performance and install reality often lag. The decisive factor is organisational terrain.

A simple start

If you can draw decision rights for variants, pricing and sunsetting on one page, publish Door A/B/C rules, and cap WIP to two live items per family, you will feel the difference in 12 weeks. Strengthen the milieu intérieur — decision rights, portfolio discipline, install‑first habits, credible submittals and hybrid leadership — and most “bugs” become routine. Begin with one product family, one diagnostic pass and two decisions a week.

www.brandtpartners.com

Wojtek Cieplik is a Berlin‑based industry consultant and executive search partner in lighting. Previously with OSRAM and LED Engin, Wojtek helps SMEs strengthen organisational health and hire hybrid leaders to improve project delivery.