You know the feeling. You’ve been working hard, staying busy, and always moving. But somehow, things still aren’t really moving forward. Your calendar is full. Your to-do list never ends. But the big-picture stuff? The things that really matter? They’re still sitting in the “someday” pile.
This is the trap of crisis mode. It looks productive. It feels productive. But it’s not a growth strategy. And it’s one of the biggest reasons progress get delayed—often by the very people working the hardest.
Crisis Mode in Disguise
Crisis mode doesn’t always show up as a panic. Sometimes it shows up as over commitment. More work than hands. More tasks than time. More needs than resources. It’s an endless loop of doing.
I’ve seen it look like:
- A director managing $1 million in grant-funded projects still spending hours invoicing $1k worth of 1:1 client sessions.
- A nonprofit signing up for a vendor booth to recruit volunteers without a plan for onboarding them or matching them to real needs.
- A President jumping at every request without streamlining core services, making delegation nearly impossible.
- A small business owner designing and printing high-end signage without knowing if the product offers tied to it are even profitable.
Underneath all of it? A desire to feel useful. To show effort. To avoid the discomfort of uncertainty by doing something. We think, “If I just keep trying, something will work out.” But that action-first approach often skips the part where we pause, evaluate, and choose intentionally.
When the vision becomes unclear—or disconnected from day-to-day choices—busyness becomes a stand-in for progress. But busy keeps you circling. It never gets you unstuck.
Why Busy Work Feels Safer Than Big Work
Busy work feels attainable. Clear. Contained. You can start it now and finish it by Friday. No major decisions required. No big questions to answer. Just action.
Strategic work, on the other hand? it’s nebulous. It doesn’t always come with an obvious start or end point. “Make signs” feels doable. “Move business forward” feels vague and intimidating—especially if you’re not sure how to define that direction.
I’ve also seen people jump in out of fear—fear of letting others down, being seen as lazy, or having their leadership questioned. sometimes they genuinely believe no one else can do it as well. Sometimes they’ve just trying to protect their team from dropping the ball.
And more often than not, the real reason people avoid the strategic work is because they don’t even realize they’ve avoiding it. Or they’re stuck between two competing versions of what their vision could be. Or they haven’t had a moment to ask the questions that would unlock clarity.
The Price of Staying Reactive
When you stay in task-chasing mode, the work that matters most always gets pushed back. You delay:
- A stronger service model
- A simplified offer
- Hiring or developing the right team
- The clarity that would reduce decision fatigue
Without alignment, teams start to feel like they’re working really hard… with nothing to show for it. That drains morale, dampens creativity, and—over time—leads to disengagement or even resignation. People want to be part of something that feels like it’s going somewhere.
When businesses skip strategic alignment, they often:
- Solve the same problems over and over
- Change direction mid-plan
- Abandon projects halfway through
- Get distracted by every new idea
- Struggle with leadership fatigue and doubt
Leading Differently, Even When It’s Messy
Prioritizing vision doesn’t always clean everything up. But it does bring clarity. It shows you which tasks no longer deserve space on the list. It creates a domino effect—where one decision informs the next instead of every choice feeling like a shot in the dark.
We help teams make this shift by helping them understand the full ecosystem of their organization—not just the symptoms, but the structure. We don’t prescribe answers. We help leaders uncover the questions that matter, using our 4P Framework as a repeatable lens for making sense of it all.
To stop defaulting to motion, leaders have to trust their vision. Even marathoners don’t train every day. That doesn’t mean they’ve abandoned the race. And leaders? They’re not meant to have the same to-do list as doers. The role changes. The rhythm must, too.
From the Field: What It Looks Like in Real Life
Too often, I see people stay in busy mode until they burn out—or shut it all down, assuming they just weren’t cut out for it. They think scaling means doing more, faster. But the people who make it work? They’ve discovered it’s not about doing more. It’s about doing the right things, at the right time, for the right reasons.
At one organization, I saw a team default to whatever task felt most achievable when emotions were high. Their intentions were good—they wanted to help. They cared deeply. But the core work—the long-term problem-solving—kept getting skipped.
And when I feel a team defaulting to busyness, I know it’s time to pause. That’s usually when deeper issues start to surface: team tension, decision avoidance, protection-mode communication. The cracks in trust begin to show. And without support, people start to disengage or shut down.
What to Do If You See Yourself Here
First, just say it: “I’m in busy mode.” Naming it is powerful.
Then ask yourself: What am I struggling to figure out? If you’re genuinely okay not having the answer right now—great. Let it go. But if it’s keeping you up at night or quietly draining your confidence, it might be time to reach out.
That support might look like a friend, a peer, or a professional. It might look like enrolling in our Partnership Program. It doesn’t matter where you start—just that you do.
Because progress won’t come from doing more. It comes from doing what matters.
