No pain, no gain? No thanks.

Work is hurting these days. We see it. We feel it. We know at least some of what needs to change. So… why isn't sh*t changing?

Real talk? Leaders are letting lip service and plans stand in for action. Talking about what needs to change. Committing to changing it. But too often, not actually doing anything different.

Leaders know they're bottlenecking too many decisions at the top. Clamoring for innovation but failing to give their teams license to fail. Meeting too often with too many people who decide nothing but when the next meeting will be. Failing to prioritize.

They see so many things they know we need to change. They know their teams could be delivering bigger, more impactful and innovative results. Doing so with more energy and joy.

Leaders are waiting for something - the app, the tech, the accountability framework - to get it done for them. But these are just things. They're not change.

If we want a different outcome, truly? We need a different input. Our own actions and behaviors need to be different.

When we know we've allowed too many priorities to creep in without anything coming off the plate? We have to stop lamenting and start changing. We have collectively let ourselves off the hook here.

We've normalized looking away.

But these are the moments requiring action.

And it doesn’t mean culling our list of 17 priorities down to 3. It does mean acknowledging 17 is too many and slice off one. Just one to start. Let that settle for a minute. And watch. Are the 16 remaining getting just a little more love? If so, knock another one off.

Same goes for meetings. You know you've got too many that are delivering too little. The answer is not to get to calendar-zero. It's to choose just one. And experiment. With its format or its attendee list or its length. Just something. Then settle and watch. Did you get more of what you needed and less of what you didn't? Then do it again.

Real change is the result of accumulating actions. And it begins with just one.

We keep convening to discuss the knowing. As though one more honest conversation about the bottleneck will somehow dissolve it. As though the right accountability mechanism, the right framework is what's been missing.

It hasn't been missing. We've just been hoping something external will do the internal work for us.

Related: Too Many Priorities? Nest Them Like Russian Dolls and Watch Clarity Appear