As companies grow over time, the focus shifts from "outcomes" to "activity". People lose sight of what they need to achieve, instead feeling busy because there's always a lot to do. Here are the 5 telltale signs to watch out for:

The biggest red flag for me. Rigid ways of doing things mean there is no space for new ideas & no scope to make things better. You're a cog in a machine that spits out the same thing whether it is needed or not.

Every role should clearly understand the impact they make to the business outcomes - ideally knowing which metrics & why those are important. Even internal roles that support other teams need clarity on what metrics these teams impact to help prioritize the right outcomes.

Systems that don't get feedback regularly & iterate on those, ultimately lose sight of their customers' needs because they change over time. This also applies to internal teams.

This is another one I really watch out for, especially new processes in organizational domains (product development, finance, HR). If processes are introduced without a clear work-back from the intended outcome, there are gaps that need to be addressed.

While this isn't always a telltale sign, if you feel like your role could be done by another person in the company without any onboarding time, it is often a signal that you need to realign with business outcomes.