Everyone knows the meeting that lasts three hours but produces no decision. The only result is a list of new actions, another extra meeting and more pressure on people who are already overloaded. This is not an incident, but the daily reality in many organizations. What is meant to be careful tuning and creating support ends in indecision and growing workload.
The silent killer of productivity
This phenomenon has a name: the erosion of hierarchy. It begins subtly. Frameworks become slightly less sharp. Tasks and responsibilities merge. Managers start getting involved in details. Employees wait “until the decision is made.” No one notices right away, but slowly sand gets into the engine. Decision-making becomes diffuse and slow, and daily work gets bogged down in incidents, task forces and ad hoc solutions.
The vicious circle of indecision
Slow and unclear decision-making has a predictable effect:
- Incidents are piling up – we are mostly still putting out fires.
- Priorities change every week – focus disappears.
- Employees withdraw – “just tell me what to do.”
- Executives drown in escalations.
The result: workloads skyrocket, but service quality and predictability plummet.
The consequence of leadership that dare not choose
Indecision is not a luxury problem; it is a threat to the vitality of an organization. If managers do not dare to set a clear course, an organization becomes a collection of islands, each with its own way of working. The ability to solve problems drops to a minimum. Problems keep simmering or return in increasingly expensive and complex forms.
How to break the circle
The solution is not yet more consultation or yet another task force, but a reevaluation of what leadership is:
- Restore trust – Give employees room to make their own decisions within clear frameworks.
- Set course and hold it – Decisiveness at the top creates calm in execution.
- Actively support – Listen, remove obstacles and show that input matters.
From potential to performance
Organizations that dare to choose and are clear about roles, frameworks and direction experience the opposite of hierarchy erosion: faster decisions, lower workload, higher engagement. It is the shortest path from untapped potential to peak performance.
