💥 Common causes of org dysfunction

Ever found yourself stuck in a dysfunctional part of the business and can’t quite figure out why?

One of the most likely reasons:

Everyone is making things up as they go—and squabbling all the way.

In other words: lack of alignment.

Here are some common (but not exhaustive) reasons why alignment fails 👇

🎯 Refusing to set one clear target

Someone in your chain of command won’t set a single clear focus. They hedge.

This breaks everyone downstream.

Companies need clear (often singular focus).

Without it it’s impossible for everyone to work together to achieve a goal.

🚫 No targets at the top

Leaders above you might WANT to set a target—but never actually do it.

No hard decisions. No documentation. No socialization. No team-wide alignment.

This failure often comes not just from the top (e.g. the CEO) but from a manager somewhere in your chain of command.

Leadership is both top-down and middle-out.

CEOs set high-level targets, but leaders at every layer in the business must define the details, push back where needed, and make sure traders are understood (managing up).

Otherwise, senior leaders are is flying blind.

🔄 Moving targets from the top

Someone in your chain of command sets a clear focus—then regularly changes their mind.

All leaders should be:

✅ Documenting a clear plan

✅ Anticipating and communicating change

✅ Shielding their team from thrash

✅ Defending the plan when leadership gets nervous

🧭 Confusion about what to align to

Focus areas might exist—but leadership hasn’t created or shared a canonical set of principles, assumptions, vision, or roadmap.

Maybe they think everyone “just gets it.”

Maybe they prioritize execution over documentation.

Maybe they keep re-documenting things with different words and diagrams.

Whatever the reason: no shared mental model = no alignment.

🙅‍♂️ Refusing to get aligned

Even with a clear plan in place, a leader (in your org or another) just… doesn’t align.

They ignore direction, pursue their own thing, and trigger constant re-litigation of previously settled decisions.

Sometimes this is subtle: They say they’re aligned but use vague or contradictory language.

Or they nod along—and then go rogue anyway.

🙃 Failing to say NO to distractions

This is a form of toxic niceness.

Everyone wants to be friendly. Collegial.

But even the most aligned leaders have:

A - Different tactical views day-to-day

B - Random off-strategy ideas

C - A tendency to drift from strategy over time

If your leadership (or YOU) don’t say NO to distractions, even the best-laid plans will crumble.

Plans are worthless unless everyone takes responsibility for sticking to them.

🧠 Complete failure of cognition

Sometimes someone in the chain just has no clue—and no path to figuring it out.

At that point—depending on your role—you have two choices:

Fire them. Or quit.

⸻

💬 Seen any of these firsthand?

Drop your story or advice in the comments 👇