The Just Don't Get It!

Workarounds: Where Words and Actions Collide Nowhere is the gap between what leaders say and what they actually tolerate more visible than in workarounds. They tell a story about what is accepted and tolerated, if not encouraged. They speak directly to inconsistency—what you do versus what you say. Workarounds inflict pain on multiple levels. They create safety risks when people bypass proper procedures or use makeshift solutions. They compromise quality when "good enough" becomes the standard. They kill productivity through inefficient processes that everyone knows are broken but no one fixes. The cultural damage is just the beginning—the operational costs compound daily. Workarounds are a nuisance, and they're everywhere. Cardboard acting as shims, duct tape holding equipment together, handwritten signs taped to machines with warnings and instructions. Each one represents a problem that someone decided was acceptable to live with rather than fix. It's hard work to eliminate them, but you will struggle to make meaningful improvements and change if you don't. Because every workaround sends a message about your actual standards, regardless of what your policies say.

106