Kickoff 2026: Why Leading Companies Are Declaring an Operational Reset
As companies look ahead to 2026, one thing is clear. Growth alone is no longer enough. Margin pressure, labor constraints, supply chain volatility, and rising customer expectations are forcing leaders to rethink how their businesses actually run.
Many organizations are entering 2026 with solid demand signals, but with operations that are stretched, fragmented, or overly complex. Years of reactive decision making, disconnected systems, and incremental process changes have created operational drag that quietly erodes profitability and execution speed.
The most disciplined leaders are responding with an intentional Operational Reset.
This is not about cost cutting for the sake of cost cutting. It is about resetting the foundation of how work gets done so the business can scale efficiently, predictably, and profitably.
What an Operational Reset Really Means
An operational reset is a deliberate pause to reassess how strategy, structure, processes, and technology align to the outcomes the business needs to achieve in the next phase of growth.
It focuses on answering a few hard questions:
Where is complexity slowing us down or driving unnecessary cost?
Which processes truly create value, and which ones persist out of habit?
Do our systems provide the visibility leaders need to make fast, confident decisions?
Are our teams structured and enabled to execute at the pace the market demands?
For organizations entering 2026, this reset is often paired with clear efficiency targets tied to margin improvement, throughput, service levels, and working capital.
Where Efficiency Gains Are Actually Found
Across industries, LCG sees efficiency opportunities concentrate in a few core areas:
Operational execution
Inefficient workflows, inconsistent standards across sites, and unclear ownership often drive hidden cost and performance variability. Standardizing core processes and clarifying accountability unlocks immediate gains.
Supply chain and manufacturing performance
Yield loss, unplanned downtime, excess inventory, and long changeover times are often accepted as normal. When measured and addressed systematically, they become major sources of recovered margin.
Digital enablement
Many organizations have invested heavily in ERP, MES, PLM, and analytics, yet still lack real-time insight. The issue is rarely the tools themselves. It is how they are implemented, integrated, and used by teams.
Organizational alignment
When strategy, incentives, and day-to-day execution are misaligned, even strong teams struggle to deliver results. Clear governance, decision rights, and performance management are essential to sustaining efficiency gains.
How London Consulting Group Supports a 2026 Operational Reset
London Consulting Group partners with leadership teams to translate efficiency goals into execution. Our work is grounded in operational reality and designed to deliver measurable results.
Diagnose and prioritize
We quickly assess operational performance across value streams, sites, and functions to identify where efficiency gains will have the greatest impact.
Design the future state
LCG works with leaders to define what “good” looks like across processes, systems, and organizational structure, aligned to 2026 targets and beyond.
Enable execution
Through structured improvement programs, digital transformation support, and leadership enablement, we help teams implement changes that stick.
Sustain performance
We embed operating rhythms, metrics, and governance models that ensure efficiency gains are sustained and continuously improved over time.
Our approach combines operational excellence, digital transformation, and leadership capability building to create durable results.
Making 2026 the Year of Disciplined Execution
The companies that will outperform in 2026 are not waiting for perfect conditions. They are using this moment to reset how their organizations operate.
They are setting clear efficiency targets.
They are simplifying complexity.
They are aligning systems, processes, and people around execution.
An operational reset is not a retreat. It is a strategic move to build resilience, protect margin, and create capacity for growth.
At London Consulting Group, we help leaders turn that reset into results.