Paralyzed by Processes: Hindering Progress with Too Much Process

Progress rarely dies from one big block—it’s buried under layers of small, well-intentioned processes. Past a point, process becomes the work. The cure: be ruthless about what’s essential, mandate only what measures outcomes, and keep focus where it belongs—on results.

Organizations rarely grind to a halt because of one massive, obvious roadblock. More often, they slow to a crawl because of a hundred small ones. Each new form, sign-off, or “alignment meeting” feels harmless in isolation. But over time, the stack gets so high that even the simplest actions feel heavy. Progress doesn’t die in one blow—it’s smothered under a pile of well-intentioned processes.

Processes are often created by people who don’t have to live with the day-to-day friction they’re adding.

Most of this isn’t sabotage. It’s creep. Processes are often created by facilitators—enablement, governance, or compliance roles—who don’t have to live with the day-to-day friction they’re adding. And without anyone accountable for the total weight of process, the burden just accumulates. The people doing the work absorb the cost in slower execution, reduced focus, and higher cognitive load. Human beings aren’t machines; our capacity for procedural complexity is finite. Past a certain point, the process stops enabling the work and becomes the work.

A process is essential if—and only if—it directly helps us understand or measure outcomes.

The fix isn’t to blow everything up and declare anarchy. It’s to be ruthless about what qualifies as “essential.” My standard is simple: a process is essential if—and only if—it directly helps us understand or measure outcomes. Everything else is optional. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, but it should be voluntary, not mandated. If a team finds it useful, they’ll adopt it organically. If not, it dies quietly.

The result is a lean operating environment where execution speed stays high, mental bandwidth is preserved, and the focus stays where it belongs: on results.

This keeps the “must-do” list small enough that pruning isn’t a recurring chore—it’s built into the system. We avoid bloat upstream by making the bar for “essential” extremely high. Combined with outcome-oriented governance frameworks like CBC, it means we can trust capable people to deliver without drowning them in procedural theater. The result is a lean operating environment where execution speed stays high, mental bandwidth is preserved, and the focus stays where it belongs: on results.