Sep 17, 2026 · 13 min · 12 segments
Fixing Broken Processes explains how leaders can identify failed workflows, restore forgotten policies and procedures, and rebuild operational consistency. Learn how to separate a bad process from…
Today we're talking about something every organization has, broken processes.
And I'm not talking about the obvious disasters where everybody knows something is wrong.
The policy that's still sitting in a manual somewhere but quietly disappeared from daily operations.
The checklist everybody used five years ago until people slowly stopped using it.
The meeting that used to solve problems then became inconsistent, then eventually vanished.
How about the handoff procedure that once worked perfectly until somebody skipped part of it? somebody else copied them, and eventually the shortcut became the new process.
They don't usually die during some dramatic meeting where everyone agrees we're never doing this again.
One exception becomes two, two becomes normal, and eventually a new employee shows up and has no idea the original process ever existed.
Then one day something goes wrong and somebody says, wait a minute, weren't we supposed to have a procedure for this? Yes, you did.
And that's an important distinction for leaders because sometimes we don't need a new process.
I think leaders have become obsessed with creating new things, new policies, new software, new workflows, new committees, new forms.
What were we supposed to be doing in the first place? That's where I would start.
If something isn't working in your organization, go back and look at the original expectation.
Today we're talking about something every organization has, broken processes.
And I'm not talking about the obvious disasters where everybody knows something is wrong.
The policy that's still sitting in a manual somewhere but quietly disappeared from daily operations.
The checklist everybody used five years ago until people slowly stopped using it.
The meeting that used to solve problems then became inconsistent, then eventually vanished.
How about the handoff procedure that once worked perfectly until somebody skipped part of it? somebody else copied them, and eventually the shortcut became the new process.
They don't usually die during some dramatic meeting where everyone agrees we're never doing this again.
One exception becomes two, two becomes normal, and eventually a new employee shows up and has no idea the original process ever existed.
Then one day something goes wrong and somebody says, wait a minute, weren't we supposed to have a procedure for this? Yes, you did.
And that's an important distinction for leaders because sometimes we don't need a new process.
I think leaders have become obsessed with creating new things, new policies, new software, new workflows, new committees, new forms.
What were we supposed to be doing in the first place? That's where I would start.
If something isn't working in your organization, go back and look at the original expectation.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
