Sludge: 6 Causes of the Muck That Hinders Organizational Growth

You’ve seen it happen. First, the water starts to go down the drain a bit slower, until eventually, the crud-filled backup can’t be missed. The culprit? Sludge – the muck that results from an accumulation of things until there is an annoying and sometimes damaging backup. Sludge is not only found in sinks – but it can also be found in organizations, and it is the term used by Harvard Professor Cass Sunstein to describe barriers that hinder moving forward. Sludge results in frustration, fatigue, cynicism, and a sense of helplessness. Here are the six greatest causes of the muck that most often hinders organizational growth and health.

1. Excessive Rules.

We have seen plenty of examples of what happens when leaders and organizations have no rules. Lawlessness seldom produces order and ethical behavior. But excessive rules can be equally destructive. Do you ever feel happy and enthused when a business or office says, “That’s the policy”? This happened a few years ago when my team and I were running late for a flight. We made it to the gate, but they had just closed the door to the plane. The plane sat there, right outside the window, with two airport employees standing on the portable steps having a smoke and talking for 20 minutes! But we could not get on that plane! Why? Because that is the rule. When an organization accumulates rules on top of policies on top of more rules, the result is sludge that will frustrate employees, alienate customers, and kill innovation.

2. Confusing Complexity.

I have a daughter who has a disability. Over the years, we have had to deal with a few unnamed government agencies that would make navigating a large airport at Christmas during bad weather seem like the simplest of tasks. You need to call… You need to leave a message… You need to fill out the forms again… You need to call the other department, but we cannot connect you. Does any of this sound familiar to you? If so, you have experienced the frustrating effects that come from confusing complexity. There is a direct correlation between the amount of complexity in an organization’s culture and the amount of sludge hindering it from its mission.

3. Extreme Control.

My friend is a talented leader and was hired by an organization to improve engagement within one of its large programs. But then his boss started to mandate how the program should run, who was and was not allowed to be involved in it, how the team was to dress, and what role the boss personally wanted to have in it. The diagnosis – extreme control! Such control demoralizes people, demotivates decision-making, and deadens the spirit of team members. In other words – the culture becomes a sludge machine.

4. Mind-Numbing Unresponsiveness.

Our health insurance system in our country is, to be kind, MIND NUMBING. For example, I was told that to find out the cost of any procedure, all I needed to do was ask the provider. So, I joyfully made my first call to the doctor’s office where had a procedure scheduled, who sent me to the hospital, who sent me to the doctor’s office, who told me “it all depends” and sent me to the insurance company, who sent me to the doctor. After this “simple” process of asking for the cost of the procedure, no one was able to answer the question until I talked with a senior-level person at the hospital who was very responsible, answered the question, and agreed – it really shouldn’t be this hard. While no one was trying to be difficult, no one was able to respond with an answer to a very basic question: How much?! And that is the depressing power of sludge!

5. Deeply Embedded Distrust.

When a leadership system is operating optimally, ideas flow freely and decisions are made with efficiency. Great ideas go from inception to implementation in days and weeks rather than months and years. But when distrust develops among the leadership or between a leader and a board, the sludge begins to form, and over time, it gets thicker and deeper until every decision requires 35 emails, 16 conversations, and 7 meetings. And even then, a decision is delayed for so long that no one even remembers what the proposal was all about. This is what sludge-producing distrust will do. No one trusts anyone to make a decision without everyone weighing in!

6. Excessive Busyness. 

What do you get when you combine an excessively busy leader who is often inaccessible with one who also wants to have a say in a lot of decisions? SLUDGE. I have talked with staff members from a variety of organizations who expressed exasperation because the boss is always in meetings, on the road, and usually wearing an expression that says, “Don’t bother me; I am too busy!” These leaders complain about things not getting done but then critique others when they were not consulted. Such excessive busyness can be one major contributor to sludge factor #4 – unresponsiveness. If you see a leader who is always on the run and hard to pin down, their organization will likely have some sludge hindering its growth and health.

So what can you do about sludge? After all, most organizations have some of it clogging up the system. One practical step is to start with an honest conversation about the sludge and discuss the following questions.

• What are the signs of sludge in our organization?

• What are the causes of that sludge?

• What can we do to reduce the sludge and increase our health and productivity?

Contact us to learn how our experienced consultants can help you identify and remove the sludge in your organization.

Jay Desko is the CEO of The Center Consulting Group and brings experience in the areas of organizational assessment, leadership coaching, decision-making, and strategic questioning. Jay’s degrees include an M.Ed. in Instructional Systems Design from Pennsylvania State University and a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Leadership from The Union Institute.