Preventing the Mess: Building Systems and Habits for Proactive Order

The real power move in leadership isn’t fixing chaos. It’s designing so it never happens in the first place. (The Art of the Fix Series)

The Lure of the Firefighter

There’s a certain seduction to being the fixer.

You know the role: The project is off the rails, people are whispering in Slack threads, deadlines are haemorrhaging, and someone says:

“Get [insert your name] in here.”

You walk into chaos like it’s your natural habitat, crack your knuckles, draw up a war room, and three weeks la…