Patterns / 6. Fight, Fold, or Leave
Pattern 6.1
Recognize the Unwinnable System
Learn the signs that the money flows around a change will not move, so that you can decide what to do about it rather than keep pulling levers that don’t respond.
In This Context
You’ve done the diagnosis, worked within the system, and reframed your case, and still nothing moves. The forces that shaped the organization are often stronger than any one person’s technical argument, and the further a change has to reach back toward the patrons, the harder it gets. People who don’t see this keep hitting barrier after barrier until they quit in frustration, as Theresa did at Collaboron. Some systems won’t change from where you stand. These signs have come up earlier in the book:
- a single overmighty patron whose focus keeps shifting, so nothing started under one enthusiasm survives the next;
- patrons who hold the product in a “straitjacket”;
- a diagnosis that was buried by the person who sponsored it;
- middle managers waiting for the push for change to dissipate;
- a change that would need a patron to change their mind, when nobody in the organization can reach that patron.
Therefore
Check your situation against the signs, and say honestly which ones apply. If they do, stop treating the problem as one of finding a better argument, and choose deliberately between fighting on, changing what you’re aiming for, and leaving.
Consequently
- You stop spending effort on levers that can’t move.
- The choice to stay or leave becomes a decision rather than a slow loss of hope.
- Recognizing an unwinnable system can feel like admitting defeat, and it is easy to see these signs where they aren’t.
Seen In
ch18_plan, Chapter 14, sidebar “War Story: The Report That Was Buried”. Also: the overmighty patron in Chapter 12 (“War Story: The Overmighty Patron”), the waiting middle managers in Chapter 10, sidebar “War Story: Three CEO Sponsors’ Goals”, and Theresa’s exit in Chapter 5.