After a year-long, down-to-the-studs home renovation—including new insulation, windows, roof, HVAC, and more—I thought we were set for whatever Mother Nature threw our way. But as this winter’s extreme cold set in, I noticed something troubling: long, drippy icicles hanging off every side of the house.
Not exactly the picture of energy efficiency I had envisioned.
Naturally, I started making calls. Contractor? “We built to spec.” City? “Everything passed inspection.” Architect? “It was designed to spec.” Everyone had done their job according to plan. And yet, here I was with an unintentional winter wonderland, a clear sign that something wasn’t quite right.
That’s when it hit me—this isn’t just a construction problem; it’s a leadership lesson.
Many leaders unknowingly run their teams the same way my house was built: to spec, but not by design. Every department meets their individual KPIs. HR has a solid hiring process, Operations follows its playbook, Sales hits its numbers—but somehow, the whole system isn’t operating as seamlessly as it should. People are burning out. Communication breaks down. Progress stalls. Just like my house, the pieces are technically “right,” but they’re not working together in harmony.
So how do we shift from leading to spec to by design?
- Step Back and Look at the Whole System – Just because each piece functions individually doesn’t mean they’re working together optimally. Where are the inefficiencies? What’s slipping through the cracks? Are your people engaged and aligned, or just checking boxes?
- Anticipate Unintended Consequences – Icicles don’t show up on blueprints, and neither do disengaged employees, leadership bottlenecks, or misaligned priorities. If you’re seeing high turnover, burnout, or silos, those are the leadership icicles forming. What early indicators can you spot before a full-on freeze sets in?
- Bridge the Gaps – Silos create problems. My insulation guy didn’t talk to my roofer. Does your marketing team talk to sales? Does your leadership team communicate clearly across functions? More importantly, are you as a leader fostering cross-functional collaboration, or just assuming it’s happening?
- Own the Whole Experience – Just because something is “to spec” doesn’t mean it’s delivering the experience you intended. As a leader, it’s your job to make sure the system actually works, not just that it meets minimum requirements. Are people thriving, or are they just surviving? Are you designing an environment that fosters success, or simply managing around problems as they appear?
- Measure What Matters – Are you evaluating success purely on metrics that look good on paper, or are you looking at long-term sustainability? Leaders who focus only on quarterly targets often miss the bigger picture. Just like my house—on paper, it was up to code, but in reality, it wasn’t functioning effectively.
In leadership, just like home renovations, the goal isn’t just to check the boxes—it’s to create something that functions beautifully as a whole. So the next time you’re told, “It’s to spec,” ask yourself: Is it truly by design?
And if you need me, I’ll be up on a ladder… knocking down icicles.
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