Monday morning, 6am:

John woke with a start.

“Jeez, just Monday morning again. How come I’ve started to have those nightmares about my workplace? I should have gotten used to having these painful Monday gatherings right now. I mean, they aren’t really that meaningful anymore. Things are obviously going in a direction I don’t control anyway, so why should I bother? The lack of engagement for our customers, the awkward processes we “need” to follow (because some moron decided the way of work), it’s not in my hands for making decisions about. This isn’t what I signed up for 3 years ago, but I guess it won’t be any better in another place. Just different god damn logos, other faces but same old frekkin problems, given it really is problems.”

John, 38 years old, landed the DREAM JOB 3 years ago after some really hard attempts to actually get to a position where his full potential could flourish. “After all, I already then could do my boss’s job much better since I really understand what the challenges are”, he thought back then. How has it become? Did he get the quick results he was aiming for in his new position? The case was so clear. He had worked in this, well almost like this, context and conditions before, so he knew for sure how to get things going in any similar business with similar challenges. So why does he feel so unsatisfied?

Could it be that his area of ​​responsibility is overwhelmed by projects and initiatives that have been decided and never started, or could it be that the big rebuild of the system they decided to phase out in favor of a shiny new solution hasn’t yet gotten out of the starting blocks and people aren’t requesting status updates anymore? Or has he gained a constant, nagging level of stress from the unspoken sayings around lack of direction, mandate, and conditions, though he can’t even see how he could have any impact on it? It’s beyond his mandate to decide after all, or maybe that’s just in his imagination.

Everywhere we have mid-level managers plowing through endless, pointless administration and tasks and having a feeling of not doing what actually matters in the weekday, with its ever-winding hurdles to overcome. Projects going to slow, deliveries full of unnecessary errors, things that never get fixed because of, because of, yeah why really?

Are you a John or maybe his manager? Do you recognize the picture I’m painting here? Do you sense a lack of direction, a lack of momentum, though the figures don’t indicate anything alarming (yet)? Maybe the figures could indicate something entirely different if you just - yeah, just DID SOMETHING ABOUT “IT” - but you can’t sort out what that “IT” actually is?

Well, welcome to the club of thick and stiff enterprises, earning just enough to have the company board satisfied, missing out on an unknown number of opportunities and actually unknowingly maximizing their risks. A little comfort could be that you’re not alone, a lot of colleagues out there are in the same situation as you are, but that doesn’t mean you have insolvable problems. Imagine yourself actually being able to make a change, to actually change direction for your team/division/business area/company? It has the potential to be as fulfilling as jumping off the ship and running your own business (which has its own BIG challenges for sure, ask one who knows, hm-hm).

If you are interested in discussing how to become a better player on your playground, book me for a call. My toolbox is filled with useful stuff and I’m all ears.

Also welcome to this shiny new newsletter, where I will elaborate on different business-related topics and share my own story from that business owner perspective. A slew of philosophical rants and pondering might slip here as well.