agency, quietly returned

We designed contribution out of the org for decades. Now we need it back.

Dear reader,

A senior HR leader told me, almost apologetically, that her engagement scores had improved after she removed three layers of approval. She said it as if she'd broken a rule. She had — the old one.

Industrial-era management was built on predictability. The most unpredictable variable in any organisation is a human being with a view. So we built systems that quietly optimised for compliance over contribution, and measured activity in place of impact. We called it governance. It worked, right up until the world stopped being predictable.

The leaders I see gaining ground now aren't the ones with tighter KPIs. They're the ones rebuilding the human contract — adult-to-adult accountability, shared stake, judgement returned to the people closest to the work. Not because it's kind. Because it's the only serious response to complexity.

Where in your organisation is a capable adult still being asked to behave like a child?

— Kenneth

Copenhagen, August