What You Tolerate, You Maintain

Breaking the Cycle of Repeat Fixes

Thought "it" was fixed? Think again.

As a leader, do you find yourself frustrated with that same struggle resurfacing time and again?

That roadblock? That problem? That missing data, or process, or RACI model? Again?! Weren't resources allocated to fix “it” last year? Two years ago? Three years ago? The struggle is real, and it is common.

Costs associated with repeat fixes add up. Resources are limited. Time is limited. Energy is limited. Patience is limited.

It can be resolved once and for all. The hard truth is, first you must own those previous backslides. If you don’t, you aren’t ready to foster genuine change.

What does ready even look like? It starts with a willingness to accept responsibility for the current reality.

The reality is that the team operates to the set standard. It’s the condoned standard – perhaps unwittingly reinforced through misaligned incentives, contradictory priorities, or conflict avoidance.

The standard is simply the bare minimum set of behaviors leaders are willing to tolerate.

If your team knows a manual spreadsheet workaround will bypass a broken data pipeline without consequence, that workaround IS your official system. It is not a technical failure, it is a tolerated habit.

Behaviors regress back to the mean because we are humans, after all. We're wired toward the control and security of the status quo, and we can't help but love the immediate gratification of the short term!

Sustainable, compounding change begins when you put your people first. Putting people first doesn't mean ignoring standards. On the contrary, it gives your team psychological safety to point out broken loops. It aligns their actions with incentives to create long-term order and replace quick-fix heroics with sustainable systems.

That is how you break the cycle and achieve:

• More order, less chaos.

• More connected solutions, fewer quick fixes.

• More ‘What If?’, less ‘What Is!’