Case Studies
A snapshot of real-world examples and learnings
Building an Adaptive Biotech
From Vision to Culture in Action
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Scaling Culture with Intention
A rapidly growing biotech pioneering cutting-edge science was at an inflection point. Despite exceptional talent and a shared mission, the organization faced growing pains common in scaling startups:
Gaps in information sharing that led to lack of transparency
Unintentional functional silos causing misalignment and unclear ownership
A blend of inherited habits and startup pace that lacked a unified way of working
Leadership recognized that sustaining innovation at scale required intentionally designing culture as a system and not leaving it to evolve on its own. They also wanted to be inclusive and listen to the perspective of each person in the company.
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Co-Creating a Culture of Urgency, Learning & Shared Ownership
Plumtree partnered with the organization to design a participatory culture journey built around observation, co-creation, and activation.
Listen & Diagnose - Uncovered strengths and friction points through interviews and focus groups
Define core principles – Based on interview insights, together with the LT, we co-created three guiding principles to anchor how the company operates: urgency in action, always improving and growing together
Activate the system – Brought the principles to life through organization-wide experiments and practical solutions such as establishing shared expectations with reflection practices, mechanisms to solve problems in real-time, shared language and feedback loops to strengthen trust and safety.
Each activation was leader enabled, practical and embedded in the daily work, ensuring culture was lived, not launched.
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Making Culture an Operational Reality
In just a few months, the organization moved from diagnosing cultural friction to activating adaptive, energized culture where people are aligned, connected and driving forward as ONE TEAM.
Stronger alignment and shared ownership– Across levels- teams began proactively communicating, planning together, and solving problems earlier
Greater transparency and trust – shifting from firefighting to proactive collaboration
Culture embedded as a growth driver – Connecting how people work to how innovation advances
Faster, more focused delivery – as expectations, roles, decision rights, and collaboration norms became explicit
From Crisis to Breakthrough
How a Unified R&D Team Delivered a Paradigm-Changing Medicine
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A team in Crisis, a Trial at Risk
A phase 3 Oncology Clinical Team faced an urgent and complex challenge. A pioneering biomarker-driven study was at risk of termination not due to scientific failure, but due to a breakdown in team dynamics. A high-pressure, reactive culture marked by fear, blame, and micromanagement led to silos, high turnover and delays in trial execution.
Key Issues included:
A reactive work environment with punitive responses to mistakes
Team member turnover and lack of psychological safety
Unclear processes and poor decision making
The result? The study stalled, and leadership questioned its viability. If the team couldn’t transform the way they worked together, patients awaiting this breakthrough treatment might never receive it.
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Transforming the Way We Work
We led an outcomes-focused team intervention to rebuild trust, focus and execution by:
Uncovering the real issues by facilitating open conversations to surface team tensions, fears, and pain points.
Building psychological safety – We helped the team establish a culture of trust, where mistakes were learning opportunities, and decision-making was shared. The team co-created and adopted “safe zones” for open discussions with clear principles for respectful debate.
Aligning on purpose and commitments – We re-established a shared purpose and created new operating principles grounded in trust and collaboration with mutual agreements to uphold these principles.
Redefining new ways of working – We eliminated unnecessary reporting, implemented dashboards and launched structured team town halls for transparency.
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A 700% Turnaround in Trial Execution
The impact of these changes was profound:
Psychological safety fueled innovation – Team members felt valued, supported, and empowered to contribute. The shift from micromanagement to co-ownership unlocked creativity and problem-solving.
Radical increase in execution efficiency – The number of molecular eligibility screenings skyrocketed by 700%, dramatically accelerating trial progress. The team went from stagnation to high performance.
Improved retention and engagement – Morale rebounded, turnover dropped and team members felt renewed in their mission.
Delivering a breakthrough medicine – Most importantly, the clinical team delivered a paradigm-shifting medicine to patients who had no other options.
Accelerating Innovation
Transforming a Biotech Acquisition with a Team of Teams Approach
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Delivering an Acquired Innovation in Record Time
An Oncology organization acquired a small biotech company with a first-in-class clinical-stage platform for locally delivered therapeutics in bladder cancer. However, this acquisition posed several unique and complex challenges:
No prior experience with drug/device platforms in a new disease area.
Resource constraints with aggressive timelines and pressure to move faster.
Complexities and unknowns including the integration of a new technology platform, fully outsourced trials, and differences in operational models.
Working under extreme pressure - The teams were tasked with simultaneously building the necessary processes, structures, and expertise while managing a live, ongoing clinical trial.
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Uniting Teams hrough Technology
We designed a “team of teams” model that transformed traditional hierarchical and functional structures into an interconnected ecosystem of teams enabling transparency and ownership across all levels by:
Co-creating teaming practices while building the foundation for trust and accountability
Established leadership expectations and a “safe to try” culture
Created team charter for purpose, behaviors, and ways of working
Established mutual agreements and regular retrospectives
Embedding Slack for real-time, transparent communication
Connected teams and external partners in shared channels to work together seamlessly
Enables asynchronous updates and faster decision making
Reduced meetings, emails and silos
Automating repetitive workflows
Streamlined cross-functional execution
Reduced handoffs and accelerated milestone delivery
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Accelerating Delivery & Innovation through Teaming, Tech & Trust
This team serves as the role model for how adaptive teaming, innovative technology and automated workflows can drive exceptional outcomes for future programs.
6-month acceleration to launch – Unifying ways of working with Slack enabled faster delivery than projected.
50+ days of productivity returned per employee – Fewer meetings, faster decision making, more transparency and less churn.
Improved trial outcomes and partner experience – Faster enrollment, clearer alignment with the CRO and informed decision-making.
A more positive and engaged culture – More transparency, empowerment and continuous learning.
Accelerating the Future of Oncology
A Bold Model for Early Development
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Navigating Complexity, Accelerating Breakthroughs
The Oncology Early Development (ED) organization needed to accelerate the delivery of transformative medicines while navigating the ambiguity of early phase trials. Traditional processes were too rigid, slow and siloed for the agility required. Key obstacles included:
A late-development mindset in ED with process-heavy approaches slowing the work.
Fragmented decision-making: Siloed functions, misalignment, inefficiencies and rework.
Bureaucratic churn with excessive reporting, unclear governance and overly complex protocols.
Lack of internal experimentation: no collective cross-functional space to test new ways of working and approaches.
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Creating an Agile, Experiment-Driven ED Unit
We introduced a new way of working - The Early Development (ED) Unit - A cross- functional, dedicated team designed to optimize agility, execution and impact. Key innovations introduced:
“Jazz Band” ways of working - a more fluid and adaptive model, such as using “Think Tanks” to openly brainstorm with teams and leaders.
Trial execution “SWAT” teams - Small, cross-functional teams empowered to eliminate bottlenecks and accelerate decision making.
Empowered decision making - Shifted decision authority closer to the work via decision rights and decision sprints.
Instituted learning loops - Established a retrospective practice to reinforce continuous learning and improvement.
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A New Model Designed from the Inside Out
The impact of these changes has been transformational, setting a new benchmark for how early development trials are designed and executed.
Tripled the ED portfolio with 5+ FIH studies a year for 6 years in a row.
Faster development timelines – Decision making cycles were reduced from months to weeks, dramatically accelerating early trial execution.
Greater cross-functional collaboration by eliminating silos and establishing structures for cross-functional problem solving.
More focus, less churn by eliminating excessive reporting and redundant meetings.
A scalable blueprint used to influence operating models across the organization.
“As a result of our teaming efforts and new ways of working, we achieved FPD 6 weeks ahead of our already aggressive timelines. We kept evolving, stayed aligned to the mission, and had fun along the way.”
– Clinical Leader
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