The eager employee volunteers. Leadership nods approvingly. A new initiative is born. The energy is real. The intent is genuine.
Three months later: no clear scope, no success criteria, no resources allocated, no decision rights defined. The person is still "driving it" — but driving where?
In organizations without clear structure, initiative becomes currency. Whoever does something — anything — gets rewarded. Those who build systems get labeled as "slow" or "resistant."
This is Initiative Without Structure — movement without direction, ownership without authority, activity without architecture. The pattern rewards starting things, not finishing them. It celebrates energy while starving it of everything needed to succeed.
The Mechanics
Zones of responsibility aren't defined. Every "white space" attracts initiative — regardless of whether it's appropriate or not. People step into voids because voids feel like opportunities.
Leadership sees activity — chats, updates, "we're working on it" — and interprets this as manageability. But manageability isn't growing. Only the number of touchpoints is growing.
Initiators acting without boundaries get praise — "at least they're doing something." Those who build systems and demand clarity look "difficult" and "inflexible." The system punishes architecture and rewards noise.
When CEO doesn't hold structure, they start distributing legitimacy to activity instead of competence. Decisions and priorities form not by lines of responsibility, but by lines of emotional availability.
The Symptom
When everyone "helps" in someone else's zone, but nobody holds integrity, the organization becomes a collective of well-meaning firefighters — putting out fires with cups of water while nobody asks why it's burning.
The diagnostic question: "What decision can you make tomorrow without asking anyone?"
If the answer is "none" — you don't own the initiative. You're just carrying it. Ownership without authority is weight without wheels.
The Antidote
Clear boundaries. Without boundaries, there's no responsibility. Every zone must know why it exists before anyone can own it.
"No" is not resistance. It's a form of caring for the system. Saying "this isn't my zone" protects integrity more than saying "I'll help with everything."
Public transparency of boundaries. When CEO sees structure instead of chaos, it's easier to hold focus and not encourage random initiatives.
If the system rewards activity without architecture, it's not developing — it's self-soothing. Movement ≠ progress. Structure first.
Sometimes the best progress is saying: stop, let's exit the spiral.