Structural Silence Why Organizations Train People Not to Speak Issue 256, March 19, 2026 A compliance director at a mid-size healthcare company told us recently that she had known about a data vulnerability for nearly four months before anyone formally raised it. She was not the only one who knew. At least three other department leads had flagged it informally in one-on-one conversations. None of them brought it up in the cross-functional meetings where it should have been discussed. When…

The Myth of Cross-Functional Collaboration Why Cross-Functional Structures Rarely Deliver the Collaboration They Promise Issue 255, March 12, 2026 There is a particular optimism that appears in organizations whenever someone proposes the creation of a cross-functional team. The assumption is almost immediate: if we can just bring the right functions together, many of the problems slowing progress will begin to disappear. Silos will break down. Collaboration will improve. Alignment will follow. It is an appealing idea. It is also one…

Decision Theater – When People and Organizations Mistake Motion for Commitment Issue 254, March 5, 2026 A COO at an association client recently described her week to me. She had spent Monday in a governance review, Tuesday in an alignment session, Wednesday in two separate stakeholder syncs, and Thursday preparing a decision brief for a steering committee that would meet the following Monday. By Friday, she realized something unsettling: not a single decision had actually been made all week. Every…

The Algorithmic Mirror What AI Reveals About How We Actually Think and Decide Issue 253, February 26, 2026 “What makes AI unsettling isn’t that it changes how decisions are made, but that it exposes how decisions have always been made—only without the human buffers we rely on to soften the truth.” The Mirror No One Was Asking For AI is often framed as a disruptive force—something that replaces human judgment, automates expertise, or accelerates decisions beyond our control. But that…

  The Meeting after the Meeting – Why Your Strategies and Plans Keep Losing Support Issue 252, February 19, 2026 You were in a meeting where you presented a project roadmap seeking to develop new revenue for your department. The meeting ended with apparent consensus, and the project roadmap got the green light. Heads nodded; verbal agreement and support came from most who were in attendance. Action items were assigned. Everyone left the conference room. And then, you learned later…

The Loyalty Trap – When Commitment Becomes a Cage Navigating the Psychology of Organizational Allegiance During Change and Transformation Issue 251, February 12, 2026 A senior vice president at a client I worked with recently described a moment that caused me some pause. After 22 years at the organization, he sat in a board meeting watching leadership present a transformation roadmap that would eliminate his entire division’s operating model. He told me, “I knew they were right. I knew we…

The Busyness Trap – Why We Wear Exhaustion as a Status Symbol Issue 250, February 5, 2026 Ask any professional how they are doing, and you are likely to hear some variation of “busy” or “slammed” or “crazy right now.” We have turned exhaustion into a status marker, using packed schedules as evidence that we matter and that what we do matters. Research published in the Journal of Consumer Research by Bellezza, Paharia, and Keinan in 2017 documented this phenomenon…

The Relationship Decay Rate – Why Professional Connections Atrophy Without Intention Issue 249, January 29, 2026 Someone you haven’t spoken with in three years reaches out asking for an introduction. You were once genuine colleagues, people who supported each other’s work and cared about each other’s success. Now you hesitate, calculating whether the relationship still warrants the favor being requested. Something that would have been automatic three years ago now requires deliberation. This is the relationship decay rate at work…

When Being Right Isn’t Enough The Human Factor in Influence and Timing Issue 248, January 22, 2026 Early in my career, I watched a brilliant colleague present an analysis that was precise and correct. His data was impeccable, his logic flawless, his recommendation clearly the right path forward. The room thanked him; some even gave him kudos for the completeness of the analysis and the thoughtfulness he applied to the recommendation. Following the meeting, the leadership announced they were proceeding…

The Confidence Calibration Problem Why Self-Assessment Fails Us at the Worst Possible Moments Issue 247, January 15, 2026 In virtually every meeting where decisions are being made, someone in the room is speaking with authority on a subject they understand poorly, while someone else with genuine expertise is holding back because they’re not confident their perspective or even the information they have is valuable. This asymmetry shapes outcomes in ways we rarely recognize. This phenomenon of human behavior cuts across…