Beyond mandates

Teams and organizations develop hidden organizing principles that act like an addiction. The article compares this to alcoholic families that live by contradictory rules such as "We don't have a problem" and "Justify the behavior". In a tech context the principle often looks like "always keep the platform running" and is enforced by unspoken rules and roles.

These rules surface in concrete behaviors. Engineers may obsessively review every pull request or monitor SQL query performance to protect uptime. People fall into roles like "Cheerleader", "Firefighter/Hero", "Scapegoat" or "Golden Child" that keep the system stable. The same way families assign a Primary Enabler or Lost Child, organizations assign informal titles that preserve the status quo.

Because the system is in homeostasis it resists any change, even when new executives demand faster feature delivery. The resistance isn't personal; it's the system protecting its addiction to stability. Recognizing the organizing principle, the implicit rules, and the roles that sustain it is the first step to any transformation. This is the "Awareness" stage of McLendon's 8 A's of Change.

For engineering leaders the practical takeaway is to spend the first 90 days observing without intervening. Ask five people what principle they think the team lives by, what rules they never question, and what roles keep the ship afloat. Accept that those habits are survival strategies, then use the "Acceptance" stage to build credibility before proposing any shift. This approach turns resistance into a conversation about shared values and makes change achievable.