A Monday morning just like any other. The computer boots up, and then the gears start turning…and turning. The microphone won’t connect, and the ERP system crashes before the first email is even opened. Frustration reaches new heights. The IT guy comes by, clicks through the settings, and shrugs: Unfortunately, this has been happening more often since the last update. But at least they’ve installed three new apps.
No one sitting in front of their screen this morning wants three new apps. They just want the system to work.
Companies have long understood this when it comes to their IT. There are budgets for maintenance, people in charge of every update, and extensive upgrades are carried out regularly. When it comes to a second operating system—the human one—this systematic approach is missing, even though everything else depends on it. Here, too, maintenance takes place—sometimes through coaching, sometimes through training, and sometimes through a new structure. But this rarely happens with the awareness that all these measures are interconnected. Yet it is precisely here that it is determined whether a good strategy actually translates into results in everyday life. Every company has a human operating system. Whether it runs smoothly is a matter of maintenance.
Three Levels, Three Reflexes
When I get to know a company, I look at it on three levels. First, there’s the individual with their strengths and weaknesses. Then there’s the relationship—everything that happens between people. Finally, there’s the organization with its structures, roles, and processes. Together, they form a company’s human operating system.
Things get interesting when something isn’t working. That’s because a distinct reflex has become ingrained at each of these levels.
If there’s a problem with a person, the focus shifts to identifying individuals. Anyone who stands out ends up in coaching or, in the worst case, on the chopping block.
When there are problems with teamwork, people usually call in a trainer. This is followed by training sessions on communication and conflict resolution, in the hope that afterward, people will talk to and argue with one another differently.
At the organizational level, the response to friction is almost always the same: new structures and processes. Roles are redefined and the organizational chart is redrawn, often with the help of external organizational consultants.
“If the only tool you have is a hammer, you see a nail in every problem.”
Abraham Maslow, psychologist
None of these measures is wrong. I’m familiar with all of them from my own professional experience: I coach executives, conduct training sessions, and support executive teams as an organizational consultant. That’s precisely why I know how much each one can achieve—and where its limitations lie. The problem isn’t with the measure itself. It lies in the fact that each one focuses only on its own level. That’s why I don’t use any of them in isolation. I first look at all three levels simultaneously and only then decide where the leverage lies.
Why so many initiatives fizzle out
The three levels are not silos. They are so closely intertwined that an intervention in one area always affects the other two as well, whether you want it to or not.
Nevertheless, resorting to isolated measures is understandable—because it’s the easy way out. It’s quick to find someone to blame. I call it the “pass-the-buck” principle: a name, a department, or “those up there” are held responsible for a problem whose root cause lies elsewhere entirely.
It takes just as little time to draw up a new organizational chart—in a single afternoon. But the way people work together doesn’t change overnight. What looks logical on paper often has surprisingly little to do with what actually happens out there in everyday life.
Without a big-picture perspective, a familiar pattern emerges: a process workshop is followed by coaching, and coaching is followed by team facilitation. Some of these approaches work, others don’t. Even if things improve, in the end no one knows exactly which measure brought about the change. You’re groping in the dark. In the end, time, energy, and budget are exhausted, and what remains is a quiet sense of exhaustion. What now?
Maintenance starts with a bird’s-eye view
What does this mean for executive boards and management teams? First, an uncomfortable realization: Your perspective on your own company is valuable, but it isn’t the whole truth. It’s just one piece of the puzzle. Executives hold another piece, and employees yet another. Only when these perspectives are superimposed like stencils does it become clear where everyone is on the same page. That’s where the patterns lie—and with them, the levers that actually make a difference.
That’s why I don’t start with a specific action, but rather with an analysis of all three levels of the human operating system. Not anonymously via a questionnaire, but through personal conversations with selected individuals from the company. What interests me is what is said. At least as revealing is what isn’t mentioned in a single conversation. Where is the veil of silence?
But you can also practice looking at all three levels yourself—starting with the very next problem that lands on your desk. If, for example, you hear, “The team is constantly in conflict” or “Mr. M. isn’t performing,” first ask yourself: At what level is this problem being reported to me? Then ask: Could the root cause lie on one of the other levels? Perhaps the team is arguing because responsibilities were never clarified. Perhaps Mr. M. isn’t performing because he’s being torn between two supervisors.
Often, the whole thing goes in circles: Because responsibilities are unclear, disputes arise. But because everyone avoids the dispute, no one clarifies the responsibilities. In that case, looking for a single cause doesn’t help much. What’s more important is figuring out where the cycle can most easily be broken.
That doesn’t mean you should ignore the symptom. An escalated conflict sometimes requires immediate mediation. It just shouldn’t be left at that.
Every company has a human operating system. You can maintain and upgrade it. Or you can keep installing new apps and wonder why the gears are still turning.
