Our leadership series now tackles a mistake rooted in a natural desire for stability and control: the refusal to break things. Many leaders operate under a dangerous maxim: “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” While this mindset protects against unnecessary risk, it also actively prevents innovation and suffocates long-term growth. True leadership in the modern era requires a fundamental shift: you must be willing to break things to build them back better.

Success is not a permanent state but a dynamic process. Clinging to what worked yesterday guarantees it won’t work indefinitely tomorrow. Innovation, by its very nature, requires dismantling the old to make space for the new.

The Illusion of the “Unbroken” System

The belief that a process, product, or strategy is “not broken” is often an illusion of comfort. It may be functioning, but is it optimal? Is it future-proof? Is it delivering the exceptional results that are possible, or merely acceptable ones?

This mindset fosters a culture of complacency. Teams learn not to question, not to suggest, and not to experiment. They become custodians of the status quo, and the organisation becomes a museum of past successes, slowly gathering dust as the world moves on.

Breaking Things is Not Destruction; It’s Deconstruction

To “break things” in a leadership context does not mean causing chaos or reckless failure. It is a deliberate, strategic act of deconstruction. It involves:

  1. Challenging Every Assumption: Why do we do it this way? Is this step necessary? Does this policy still serve its purpose?

  2. Running Controlled Experiments: Test a new process with a small team. Pilot a new service with a select client group. Measure the results against the old way.

  3. Dismantling Outdated Systems: Have the courage to retire a legacy product, overhaul a cumbersome approval chain, or abandon a marketing channel that no longer delivers ROI.

This process is the engine of continual learning and growth. It moves the organisation from a fixed mindset (“This is how we do things”) to a growth mindset (“How can we do this better?”).

Building a Culture That Breaks to Build

As a leader, your attitude towards experimentation sets the tone. If you punish well-considered failures, you will kill innovation. If you celebrate intelligent experimentation—regardless of the immediate outcome—you will unleash your team’s creative potential.

  • Encourage Intelligent Risk-Taking: Frame experiments as learning opportunities. Ask, “What did we discover?”

  • Provide a Safe Space for Failure: Ensure your team knows that a failed test of a new idea is not a career setback, but a valued contribution to the collective learning process.

  • Reward Curiosity and Challenge: Publicly recognise those who ask the difficult “why” questions and propose new “what if” scenarios.

From Maintenance to Evolution

Leaders who embrace this philosophy stop being mere managers of systems and become architects of evolution. They understand that sustainable success is not found in perfect preservation, but in perpetual, thoughtful reinvention.

Do not wait for your competition to break your model. Have the courage to break it yourself, and rebuild it stronger, smarter, and more responsive to the future. Your willingness to break things today is what will build your success tomorrow.

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