Busy Isn’t the Same as Progress
Why execution often slows before anything looks broken—and how unclear handoffs quietly prevent work from compounding.
The Problem
The hardest execution problems to fix
are the ones that don’t look like problems yet.
Calendars are full.
People are working.
Decisions are being made.
Updates are happening.
From the outside, everything looks productive.
But underneath the activity, progress is stalling.
Work piles up between roles.
Decisions get revisited.
Leaders keep stepping back into work they thought they had already handed off.
Nothing is obviously broken—and that’s what makes it dangerous.
Because when nothing is clearly broken, leaders default to pushing harder:
More speed
More urgency
More communication
Yet results still don’t compound.
The core issue usually isn’t effort or competence.
It’s that work is changing hands before it’s truly ready to move.
The Shift
The shift is learning to see execution as flow, not activity.
Early in the production of the Model T, Ford faced a paradox.
Demand was exploding.
Factories were busy.
Workers were constantly in motion.
Yet output stalled.
Parts piled up between stations.
Tasks overlapped.
Work changed hands without a clear sequence.
Everyone was working.
Unfortunately, the system wasn’t flowing.
The breakthrough didn’t come from hiring better people or asking for more effort.
It came from redefining how work moved.
Tasks were broken down.
Handoffs were clarified.
Sequence replaced improvisation.
The assembly line didn’t make people faster.
It made work transferable.
That’s the shift leaders need to make today:
Stop asking how to speed people up.
Start asking whether work can move cleanly without explanation.
What to Do
Here’s how to apply that shift in a practical, concrete way.
1. Define “ready,” not just “done”
Most leaders define completion.
Very few define readiness.
Before work changes hands, ask:
What must be true before this can move forward?
What information, decisions, or context must already exist?
If “ready” isn’t explicit, handoffs will slow execution every time.
2. Identify where work piles up
Don’t look for failure.
Look for accumulation.
Where does work tend to sit?
Between roles
Between meetings
Between approvals
Those pileups are signals that handoffs are unclear, not that people are underperforming.
3. Fix the handoff before fixing the person
When execution slows, leaders often coach harder, clarify expectations again, or reassign responsibility.
Instead, ask:
What’s unclear about this transfer of work?
Who owns the next decision?
What does success look like at the moment of handoff?
Most execution problems are design problems, not discipline problems.
4. Reduce interpretation at the edges
Every time someone has to interpret what to do next, momentum slows.
Your goal isn’t to remove judgment everywhere.
It’s to remove judgment where work should already be defined.
The less interpretation required at handoffs, the faster work compounds.
The Heartbeat
Leaders get trapped when activity masquerades as progress.
They mistake motion for momentum.
They confuse busyness with throughput.
Real leadership isn’t about pushing harder.
It’s about designing work that can move without you.
When work flows cleanly, leaders step out.
When it doesn’t, leaders get pulled back in.
Clarity at the handoff is one of the quiet disciplines that separates busy organizations from effective ones.
The Next Step
Where does work slow down in your organization
because it changes hands
before it’s truly ready to move?