Notes on compounding friction.
Short essays on what I observe inside organizations at inflection points. Each one connects to a phase in the framework. Because the pattern repeats, even when the industry doesn't. Not theory. Patterns I've seen. Decisions I've lived. Things worth naming.
The tools don't do the observing
Frameworks organize what you've already sensed. They never generate the insight for you.
3 common reasons why companies compound friction
Not all frictions are the same. But they often come from the same place.
What my hardest decisions have taught me
Hard decisions are rarely delayed for a lack of information.
Incentives beat intention
Strategies fall apart when the reward system pulls the other way. Most people care more about themselves than the business — and that is not a flaw to fix, but a fact to design for.
Not all diagnoses are created equal
Smart people using the same tools reach wildly different conclusions. The difference is which of the four levels of a problem they stop at.
When governance is stopping you from succeeding
Unclear mandates start with the owner, travel through the board, and end up rewarding the wrong behavior.
Leaders (always?) stay too long
Everyone with a mandate should leave at some point. Not when they start doing a bad job — long before that.
3 decisions every leader should prepare for
Strategic pivots, letting people go, and leaving the organization. You can never fully prepare — but you can face them.
Why transformation fails
70 % of all transformation projects fail. Most of them solve a problem — very few look for the problem.