stuck in a system you are part of

We often meet them:
Leaders and employees who sense that something is not right.
They want to contribute. They try. They do their best.
Sometimes, they even see the solution, but still, too little happens.

Not because they lack drive.
Not because they don’t want to.
But because they are stuck in a system that both shapes their reality and makes it difficult to change the very system they operate within.

It’s hard to read the label from inside the bottle

When you're in the middle of a system, every day, every week, it becomes hard to see the full picture.
What was once frustrating becomes everyday normal.
You learn what is “possible to influence” and what you are “better off leaving alone.”

We see parts of the problem, but not how the pieces connect.
We feel the pressure, but not where it’s coming from.
Over time, the system begins to shape our thoughts, our priorities and our actions.

We can attend educations, facilitate all we want, but as long as we don’t change the system itself, too little will happen.

Seeing the “system” from the outside

When we’re part of what needs to change

It becomes especially hard when the people who see the problems are also part of the system that created them and might have something to lose by changing it.

This isn’t about resistance or selfishness. It’s about human nature:

• We hold on to what we have influence over

• We protect what we understand

• We avoid what threatens our role, security or identity

It takes courage to change a system you hold power in.

An example: when the will is there, but the structure resists

In many organizations, the will to change is there.
Leadership training is conducted, new tools are introduced and still, not much happens.

Often, it’s not a lack of insight or engagement standing in the way, but structures that have become invisible to those operating within them:

• Unclear roles

• Responsibility divided across too many layers

• Uncoordinated goals that block collaboration

• Reward systems that favor the old logic

No one is against the change, but no one can, or dares to, carry it either.
The system holds people back and every initiative is smothered by the existing structure.

start moving. together.

The system doesn’t just hold us back. It teaches us to adapt to it.
We grow used to it, and eventually, it becomes hard to even imagine that things could be different.

But real change takes more than insight.
It takes courage.
It takes shared responsibility.
And it takes starting to move, step by step, in the midst of everyday operations.

It often begins with small shifts:

• Daring to talk about what we’ve previously avoided

• Questioning a habit that no longer serves us

• Trying new ways of working or inviting more people into decision-making

• Noticing patterns in what we’ve taken for granted

And doing it together.

But for this to be possible, something else is needed too:

Leadership that supports, enables and leads the way.

When leadership provides the courage, the mandate and the safety to challenge the system, that’s when the organization can start to move.
That’s when momentum returns.
Not through grand strategies, but through brave conversations, practical experiments and a shared willingness to change what we can actually influence.

We at Both&More don’t believe in ready-made answers.
We believe in supporting those who want to lead change from within, but know how hard it is to do it alone.

If you recognize the feeling of wanting more, but being stuck in structures that resist, reach out.
We’ll help you see, understand and dare to take the next step toward an organization where people, structures and leadership move in the same direction.