The Realistic Reset
Why High-Trust Leaders Trade "Quick Wins" for Real Value
The January Adrenaline Trap
The start of a new year usually comes with a surge of adrenaline. We look at our backlogs, our technical debt, and our revenue goals: we want to fix everything at once. We set ambitious goals, name "Tiger Teams," and announce a "Reset."
But there is a dangerous trap waiting for us in January: the Performative Quick Win. This is the tendency to choose projects that look good on a status report but do little to actually move the needle for the business. As Jim Collins notes in Good to Great, "Good is the enemy of great." When we settle for "good" quick wins, we often sacrifice the "great" long-term foundations our teams actually need. A true Realistic Reset requires us to distinguish between looking busy and being effective.
The Automation Iceberg
Earlier in my career, I identified millions of dollars in potential savings by automating our software install and upgrade process. I pulled together a team of elite engineers. We estimated nine to twelve months for completion. It was a worthwhile, high-stakes goal.
Six months into the work, the "Iceberg" hit. We discovered that the upgrade process was buried in undocumented manual steps and institutional knowledge. It was not just a technical problem: it was a human habit problem. We realized it was going to take twice as long as we had anticipated.
The Courage to Reset
In those moments, the pressure to "pivot" to a quick win is immense. Leaders often default to delivering something, anything, just to show activity to their superiors. They might even start obfuscating the facts to make progress look better than it is.
A Realistic Reset is the opposite of obfuscation. It is the moment you choose transparency over performative wins. Stephen M. R. Covey explains in The Speed of Trust that "transparency is based on the principles of honesty and openness." You can get away with "smoke and mirrors" a few times, but eventually, you undermine the most valuable asset you have: Trust. When your team sees you prioritizing "looking busy" over "doing what is worthwhile," they stop bringing you the truth.
The Filter for Strategic Clarity
A realistic reset is not about lowering your standards. It is about getting out of the weeds to view the big picture. Patrick Lencioni, in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, emphasizes that "clarity is the most important thing for a healthy organization." Before you commit your team to a January sprint, I suggest asking yourself three filter questions to ensure that clarity:
Is it Durable? Will this still be important to our mission in three months?
Is it Valued? What is the actual return on this investment one year from now?
Is it Desired? Can we sell this, or do our customers actually care about it?
Results Over Activity
We eventually succeeded with that automation project. It took eighteen months to see the first result and three years to finish the job. It was sustainable because we chose a realistic path over a performative one. We focused on the brutal facts of our situation while maintaining unwavering faith that we would prevail in the end.
If you feel like your team is stuck in a cycle of busy-work that does not move the needle, it might be time for a different kind of conversation.
Identify Your High-Value Path
Leadership is too demanding to waste on performative wins. I am opening up a few slots this week for a 15-Minute Private Leadership Review. We’ll look at your current goals and identify where performative habits might be stalling your real progress.