How to Navigate Organizational Dysfunction  🔗 **Source:** [How to Navigate Organizational Dysfunction](https://share.snipd.com/episode/d3240334-fb4a-4cc0-8d27-7c71a380747d) ## Highlights - **Working Despite Chronic Organizational Pain** - Rachel Cooke describes living with chronic back pain and how she adapts to keep functioning. - She tests what feels manageable each day, backs off when it hurts, and iterates within constraints to keep moving forward. Transcript: Rachel Cooke So in the spirit of TMI, I have chronic back pain. I've had it for years and recently it's gotten worse. And I really and truly am working on repairing it. But in the meantime, I got to keep doing life, moving, exercising, sustaining energy. So I've gotten pretty good at testing and tweaking within the constraints that I have. I figure out what feels manageable on any given day and I do more of that. When something hurts, I back off. Sometimes, more often than I'm proud of, I feel a little bit of self-pity. I shouldn't have to work this way, but fair or not, this is the system I've currently got to work with and I need to figure out how to manage within it. And here's where it gets interesting because organizations aren't so different and yours is probably working with its own version of chronic pain. It's that deep seated dysfunction that makes every move feel twice as hard. By now, you know that my jam is helping companies work better by design to tweak and enhance how the work gets done so that impact and wellness happen together. But like chronic back pain, it takes time and patience to repair. ([Time 0:02:55](https://share.snipd.com/snip/c5742739-3804-4ab6-af41-4b55665f6f87)) - **Dysfunction Is Persistent But Manageable** - Organizational dysfunction is like chronic pain: it slows every move and won't be eliminated overnight. - Treat repairs as long-term work while also finding ways to function within the imperfect system now. Transcript: Rachel Cooke And here's where it gets interesting because organizations aren't so different and yours is probably working with its own version of chronic pain. It's that deep seated dysfunction that makes every move feel twice as hard. By now, you know that my jam is helping companies work better by design to tweak and enhance how the work gets done so that impact and wellness happen together. But like chronic back pain, it takes time and patience to repair. And we have to find ways to work well in the meantime. I've recently run a bunch of off-sites where this conflict has really hit. People frustrated by the system and wanting to fix it, but also still needing to get things done inside of it. These have to coexist. ([Time 0:03:38](https://share.snipd.com/snip/fa5fae41-8e3f-4d21-b274-972f6475073b)) - **Find Your People And Share Work Regularly** - Do find your people by regularly sharing what you're working on and asking who else is tackling similar problems. - When you discover overlap, join forces, share what's working, and convert accidental duplication into deliberate leverage. Transcript: Rachel Cooke First, find your people. One common irritation I hear is people running fast down a path and bumping along the way into seven other people running down the same path, but separately. Like too many of us have been assigned the same work and we don't realize we're duplicating effort. They don't know about you, you don't know about them. And the duplication and the stepping on toes can really kind of build resentment and wasted energy and effort. So what do you do with this? Well, instead of stewing in that frustration, try getting curious and get out there. Start having regular conversations about what you're working on, not in a territorial way, but in an open, genuinely interested way. Talk about where you're spending your time and energy and invite others into the conversation. Collect their ideas and also ask if they know anyone working on something similar. You'll be surprised how often you find someone a few floors up or a few time zones over who's puzzling over the same or similar work. And when you find them, join forces, share what's working, build on each other's progress instead of starting from scratch. ([Time 0:04:35](https://share.snipd.com/snip/2e8ba576-a419-46f5-9163-cd683cec5e75)) - **Spot Hidden Overlap Across Projects** - Look for patterns beneath projects by scanning across teams for similar goals like customer retention. - Ask a peer a simple question: I think we might be working towards the same thing; should we compare notes? Transcript: Rachel Cooke Next, look for the patterns underneath the projects. Sometimes two people or teams are heading toward the same destination without realizing it. Different project names, different sponsors, but underneath? Same goal or close enough. Think about something like customer retention. Maybe one team is building out an onboarding experience. Someone else is redesigning the support process. A third team is developing a loyalty program. All three leaders believe they own the retention problem, and none of them are talking to each other. In an organization with limited resources, that kind of hidden overlap isn't just inefficient. It's a real missed opportunity. Because when leadership isn't in a position to invest more, the next best move is to find more leverage in what's already there. Two initiatives chasing the same outcome could become one much better resourced one, or they could at least inform each other in ways that multiply the impact of both. That kind of alignment should happen at the top, but often it doesn't. So in lieu of frustration, make it a proactive move. Make it your business to look across, not just ahead. A quick conversation with a peer in a different function, a glance at what other teams have on their plates, a question in a cross-functional meeting. You're not looking for formal coordination. You're just looking for signals that you may be chasing same or similar things. ([Time 0:07:46](https://share.snipd.com/snip/b2cb9537-2cb4-4626-a3c5-25972a575256)) - **Duplication Signals Untapped Leverage** - In resource-limited organizations, duplicated efforts are not just wasteful but represent missed leverage. - Small cross-team signals and brief peer conversations can reveal overlaps that unlock combined impact. Transcript: Rachel Cooke It's a real missed opportunity. Because when leadership isn't in a position to invest more, the next best move is to find more leverage in what's already there. Two initiatives chasing the same outcome could become one much better resourced one, or they could at least inform each other in ways that multiply the impact of both. That kind of alignment should happen at the top, but often it doesn't. So in lieu of frustration, make it a proactive move. Make it your business to look across, not just ahead. A quick conversation with a peer in a different function, a glance at what other teams have on their plates, a question in a cross-functional meeting. You're not looking for formal coordination. You're just looking for signals that you may be chasing same or similar things. ([Time 0:08:24](https://share.snipd.com/snip/04234c1f-6fe0-45a0-b85e-8e05bb5988e1)) - **Convert Complaints Into Opportunity Questions** - Turn frustration into strategic questions that frame problems as missed opportunities for the work. - Replace venting with proposals like aligning regularly with another team's leader to capture growth potential rather than just complaining. Transcript: Rachel Cooke Next, turn your frustrations into strategic questions. When we hit a wall in a dysfunctional organization, the natural response is to complain. No shade. I would do it too. The problem here is that leaders often tune out complaints. It's about you, not the work. And sometimes if we're honest, they can't be bothered. So the goal then is to make our frustration about the work, to find the missed opportunity, to drive growth, and focus on that rather than on how irritating it was to discover the crack In the system. When your boss hears a missed opportunity, that's a different conversation entirely. So instead of, ugh, it's so frustrating that we've been duplicating efforts for months and no one told us, try, you know, I was thinking about what we could have accomplished if we had Connected with that other team from the start. Is there a way for you and that team's leader to align more regularly in order to make that happen earlier next time? Now you're not venting. You're pointing to a lost growth opportunity and asking for something specific to help prevent it. It's a much harder thing for a leader to dismiss. ([Time 0:09:21](https://share.snipd.com/snip/c60642aa-e410-450c-9166-90263ec86284)) - **Experiment First Then Ask To Formalize** - Experiment at your level before asking leaders to change operating models; run the fix and document results. - Present the leader with a proof of concept showing you prevented delays and ask to formalize it. Transcript: Rachel Cooke And finally, experiment first and then make your case. There's a version of trying to fix dysfunction that goes like this. You identify the problem, you think of a solution, and you go ask the people above you to implement it. Hey, every time we hit a decision that crosses function, it takes weeks because no one agrees on who owns it. Could we maybe get clearer on that? It's a reasonable ask, but it almost never plays out because now you're asking busy leaders to redesign their operating model based on a problem that they may not feel as acutely as you Do. It sounds like a complaint with a bow on it. So try this instead. Next time one of those decisions lands in no man's land, don't wait for clarity from above. Get the relevant people in a room or on a call and work it out. Document what you decided and how you got there. Then go to your leader and say, we kept this one from stalling for three weeks. We figured out a way to own it at our level. Could we maybe formalize that so we're not starting from scratch every time? Now you're not lobbying for a policy change. You're sharing proof of concept. You've already demonstrated the value. ([Time 0:10:36](https://share.snipd.com/snip/36e80639-3007-4c0c-b8ce-71b444d33052))