Ghost Town
This edition explores modern work as a complex black box, calling for clearer authority and radical ideas.
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In this edition:
- Work is like a Black Box
- What I've got going on
Today I'm coming at you with a different format for this email. Rather than a handful of stories, I'm just bringing one big metaphor to try on. I've been using this one a lot this year, and I'd love to hear what you think.
At Least
A friend recently told me she once spent four weeks trying to push through a communication in which various teams were trying to decide whether a policy should say “at least two times” or “a minimum of two times.”
The discussions involved several teams, several meetings and required multiple revisits. This wording choice was escalated up and down two chains of command.
Imagine instead, a world where the highly paid, experienced and accountable people in the room were expected and authorized to decide and move forward. The communication might have been pushed out in that week, and those people could move onto the next piece of work.
What: Work is Like a Black Box
We can think of modern organizations like a black box. An idea goes in one side, and presumably a new product, service or offering pops out the other side to go to market.
Inside that black box, there are probably stages like design, build, test/deploy. Obviously this is oversimplifying, but you get the idea.
When trying to build something new, it seems like everyone inside that box has a veto card.
Everyone’s got the authority to stop work, send it back for more [research / data / formatting / consensus / fill in the blank]. But very few people in that box have the real authority to say the yeses required to push something through to the other side.
A System of Dead Ends
That’s a pretty negative indictment on the state of modern work. I wondered, well, what does good look like? What if we removed all those veto cards out of the box - is there integrity in the system that allows work through without the pitfalls of complexity and consensus?
I suggest that even if the veto cards are removed, what we’re left with is a system of dead-end mazes. The last fifteen years of growth, efficiency, modernization and technology have resulted in organizational infrastructure that is akin to arterial sclerosis.
Organizational Debt + COVID Crisis = Ugh.
This plaque is caused by
- ongoing and increasing compliance needs
- maturation of risk mitigation
- complex organizations with competing priorities.
It’s made worse with bad behaviors motivated by politicking, over-reliance on data and technology to drive decisions, minimizing human intuition and depletes Go Juice.
The post-pandemic work environment weakened or severed ties between an individual and the organization. (This is not an indictment of hybrid work, something I believe is valuable and inevitable. Rather, I believe hybrid work requires differentiated approaches to connection, building and bonding of teams to recreate organizational unity and action.)
The rare initiatives that do make it through are met at the front gates by a determined, high level executive with the brass b***s and granted authority to hand walk the work around that messy maze and ensure it gets out the door.
So What? The Costs are Huge, Dramatic
So, what does it mean? It means many things never get done, and rarely on time, under budget, or anywhere near the quality and impact the organization hopes for. As a result, the organizations objectives aren’t making the kind of progress they’re after. As well, they’ve spent a pretty penny on thousands of employees who aren’t moving work forward. That’s an incredible, expensive asset not being used to even a portion of it’s potential.
And those employees are miserable too. Gallup’s latest research indicates employee engagement in the U.S. fell to its lowest level in a decade in 2024. The hardworking, loyal, committed employees are the ones that take the brunt of this system. They diligently show up and tow the company line, following the delays, jumping through the hoops and going back to try to “get it right”. As a result they feel trapped in their jobs, confidence in their marketable skills declines, and the thought of leaving to interview elsewhere is paralyzing: How do you get through a results-oriented interview when you haven’t put results on paper for two years?
Now What?
OMG if you read this far I love you. You’re patient.
I think there are two things to focus on:
- Area 1) Codify the Workaround: Critical situations require critical bypass. But make those bypasses known, repeatable and less reliant on wielding power and calling in favors. Make the bypass accessible and a safe fast path to get work through the system.
- Area 2) Declutter the Machine: The idea of completely re-engineering or transforming the way the entire machine works is daunting. But what if instead you treat it like your house? Declutter as you go, move walls when you need them, release what’s no longer serving you. Even an improvement of 10% is movement in the right direction.
But Wait, There’s More
I was going to leave it at that - but I realize there’s a third thing.
Area 3) Embrace Radical, Complex Ideas
We now live in a reality of increasing complexity, disruption and change. Simple, straightforward ideas that always served us (light bulb) will no longer guarantee success in the market. It is imperative that organizations think think more radically, complex and creatively about the ideas that will deliver the more compelling and desirable products and services to the rapidly evolving market.
Radical, complex and creative ideas are going to die in that maze. And organizations that push a light bulb out that vintage light bulbs might be a trend but they aren’t the future (sadly. don’t get me started.)
The tools and approaches that got us here - optimization, maximization of profit, strategy, innovation, agility and goals - will not be sufficient to where we need to go. It’s time to embrace this reality and jump in with both feet.
Finally, In Closing
I would love to hear from you. Does this sound familiar? Am I overstepping or oversimplifying? Is there hope?
I’m working on three areas of potential for this gnarly situation:
- Human Potential: The potential we have in reclaiming the innately human skills that have been overlooked in our modern corporate setting
- Leadership Potential: The potential to lead in this reality, by expanding the capacity of our leaders to do so
- The Potential of Work in the Future: The potential that comes when we open up to reimagining collaboration, productivity, hiring and making fractional assignments of work to both human and artificial resources.
Don’t forget: WE made all this up! The whole office thing, Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, what work is: it’s our human invention. I find it freeing and exciting to realize that we can make a new invention that better meets the needs we have today.
I’ll keep sharing more on these topics throughout the summer.
In the meantime, I wanted to remind you:
- I’m still doing graphic recording: Contact me if you’re looking to increase engagement and retention in your upcoming event, strategy session or community listening. Visuals make a high-impact, unique experience that lasts.
- Team Development: I love to bring my expertise in CliftonStrengths, Team Performance and Values to any team offsite or workshop you have already planned. All teams in this new environment need to be intentional about the ways in which the team develops as a unit. Let me step in and make your offsite more energizing and enlightening for your team members, while also helping you to build a stronger, more resilient, trusting and cohesive team.
- Leadership Capacity: My “6 Capacities of Leadership” is an offering designed to help you lead through the currently reality of today. I’ll be bringing this to you in self-guided, premium coaching and group offerings. If you want to learn more, contact me and I’ll tell you all about it!
Thanks for making it this far!
About Summer
Summer Koide is the founder of Creative Change, where she blends leadership coaching, graphic recording, and facilitation to help people work better and think more clearly. Through her visual studio, Let’s Summerize, she turns complex ideas into clear, visual tools. At The Getaway — her private retreat space overlooking Lake Minnetonka — she hosts workshops that mix creativity, coaching, and reflection. Whether she’s coaching a senior executive, sketching a strategy session, or redesigning a team offsite, Summer helps people see what’s possible—and how to get there. Her work brings more ease, less jargon, and a practical spark to the way people lead and collaborate.
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