When being indispensable becomes the problem

Another client was very good at getting things done.

Whenever something went wrong, people came to him.

He stepped in.

He fixed it.

The system kept moving.

Which sounded like a strength.

Until we looked at the pattern.

The more he rescued the system, the more the system learnt to depend on him.

So I asked:

“Is your job to make the system work — or to build a system that works without constantly needing you?”

That landed differently.

The question was no longer:

“How can I manage all of this better?”

It became:

“What would I have to build so that fewer things need me?”

That led to a different kind of work: clearer ownership, stronger capability, better measures and fewer decisions travelling upwards.