When Change Outruns Us

Mike talks about something that I've seen multiple times. A company pivots, then pivots, then pivots again. It feels like they're being agile, moving with the market.

The impact this has on the employees is always understated. People are adaptable, but not infinitely adaptable.

Humans can adapt to nearly anything if they have time to make meaning of it. But when every new quarter brings another operating rhythm, another metric, another way of working, adaptation becomes impossible. What’s left is compliance without conviction, a workforce running at full speed with no idea where the road leads.⁠

Over time, this behaviour encodes itself in culture:

The culture slowly rewires itself. Instead of asking what will create the most value, people ask what will help them survive the next change. Instead of taking smart risks, they stick to safe interpretations of the latest directive. Curiosity contracts. Learning slows. The company moves faster but knows less, a contradiction that rarely shows up on dashboards but always shows up in the work. This erosion is subtle because it hides behind the appearance of activity, but it is also profound because it undermines the very capabilities leaders think they are strengthening.