Something’s broken? Just add more.

More people. More dashboards. More meetings. More tools.

That’s the instinct.

But here’s the truth:

More doesn’t fix misalignment.

More doesn’t replace broken systems.

And more definitely doesn’t scale clarity.

I’ve seen this play out time and time again in consulting—

A client in the middle of a transformation was hitting every friction point.

Delivery timelines slipped. Backlogs ballooned. Quality dropped.

The pressure was on. Leaders wanted action.

So the solution?

They added headcount.

More analysts. More reviewers. More layers of oversight.

But the roles weren’t clear.

Handoffs were inconsistent.

Accountability blurred across regions and functions.

So they added structure.

Daily stand-ups. Checklists. Reporting dashboards.

The output looked good—but no one had the mandate to act on the data.

Then quality took another hit.

So they added checkpoints.

Three new layers of review… but the upstream process stayed the same.

The result?

More people. More process. More noise.

But still no clarity.

What they ended up with wasn’t transformation.

It was complexity—disguised as structure.

Heavier systems. Slower delivery. Frustrated teams. Higher costs.

Here’s the insight:

You don’t transform by piling on.

You transform by getting sharper.

Smarter.

Simpler.

Scaling well doesn’t mean doing more.

It means doing what matters—better.

And sometimes, the bravest leadership move is subtraction.

The best transformation leaders I’ve worked with ask:

• What are we adding that’s not solving the problem?

• Where has complexity crept in quietly?

• What could we stop doing today—and free up space for what matters?

Because when we stop protecting legacy steps,

When we let go of process for process’s sake,

That’s when momentum builds.

Lean thinking calls this eliminating waste.

I call it making room—for alignment, ownership, and real progress.

Because the goal isn’t to look busier.

It’s to get better.

More isn’t better.

It’s just more.

Your Turn:

Where have you seen “more” become the enemy of progress?

What’s something you stopped doing—that made everything else work better?