My new company is frustratingly rigid and inflexible. There’s no drive to innovate, no hunger to experiment. Everything has to be by the books, following long-established procedures and protocols. Change is painfully slow — if at all allowed. But overall, most of my fellow managers are dogmatic about sticking to processes instead of thinking more critically about the most effective solution to achieve a desired outcome.

Any decision, no matter how minor, has to be signed, co-signed and cross-signed by multiple stakeholders. On paper. Everything has to be on paper. There is a general aversion to the use of technology and digital solutions beyond basic office software, so hard copy and forests of printouts rule in our office. Even massive documents and presentations have to be printed out and physically distributed to the different team leaders before they’re given any serious consideration.

I was brought on as the new Operations Manager to help streamline the running of the company. But so far my proposals have been turned down outright or heavily opposed by the rest of the management team. I suggested reorganising workflows and re-assigning teams to improve efficiency, but this caused panic. I recommended transitioning to cloud-based collaborative software but was met with confused stares. I even brought in copies of policy handbooks I’d annotated with notes on simplifying them but was treated like a heretic.

I don’t really understand why I was even hired if I’m not being allowed to do the job I was hired for. Where do I even begin?