Don’t Get Swallowed by the Giant Hairball – Leadership Freak

Summary

Organisations often turn into giant “hairballs”: tangled rules, red tape and long‑standing habits that strangle creativity. Drawing on Gordon MacKenzie’s idea of “orbiting” the hairball, the article advises staying tethered to your organisation while keeping enough distance to remain creative and influential.

Key tactics include learning the hairball’s language, building trust with rule‑followers, delivering results so you aren’t dismissed, and encouraging mavericks rather than neutering them. Practical steps are proposed: declare a hairball‑free day, celebrate failed experiments and champion one slightly crazy idea each quarter. Orbiting the hairball is framed not as rebellion but as a way to sustain organisational vitality.

Key Points

Organisations behave like hairballs: rules, sacred cows and outdated memos that inhibit creativity.
“Orbit” the hairball—stay connected to the organisation but avoid being tangled in bureaucracy.
Warning signs you’ve been swallowed: over‑formal meetings, bringing accounting to innovation sessions, risk forms after asking for ideas, or the phrase “we’ve always done it.”
Practical escape tactics: adopt some hairball language, build trust, deliver tangible results, and protect mavericks.
Encourage action: say “yes” before you figure out “how” and allow people to colour outside the lines.
Three concrete moves to reduce hairball gravity: one hairball‑free day per week, celebrate failed experiments, and promote one eyebrow‑raising idea each quarter.
Orbiting influences the system from within — you can’t lead from the parking lot; stay tethered but free.

Why should I read this?

Short and smart—this piece gives you bite‑size tactics to stop your team getting smothered by process. If you’re fed up with meetings that feel like rituals, want permission to back weird ideas, or need quick wins that prove creative approaches work, this is worth five minutes. It’s not academic waffle—just practical nudges to keep creativity alive inside a real, imperfect organisation.

Author style

Punchy. No fluff. The post reads like a pep talk with practical habits you can try next week. If you care about keeping innovation alive in a bureaucratic environment, treat this as a quick, useful briefing rather than sermonising—read the detail for the small behaviours that actually shift culture.