The art of connection

Why Systems Thinking Beats Hard Work Every Time

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
— Abraham Lincoln

Anyone can be busy.

Endless emails. Back-to-back meetings. Late nights.

Trust me, I’ve been there.

But I’ve learned that busyness doesn’t equal progress. In fact, the busiest teams are often the least effective.

The tragedy isn’t the effort — it’s the missed potential.

After working with leaders across large organizations in many different industries, I’ve noticed something consistent: the best organizations don’t just work harder. They work more connected.

When Hard Work Isn’t Enough

Lots of teams are full of smart people doing good work. There’s no doubt. But they’re doing it in isolation.

One of the things I’ve always loved — and tried to do well — is connect the dots. Between strategies and tactics. Between people and departments. Between data and creative vision.

Because success isn’t just about stacking bricks. It’s about building something coherent.

That’s the thing: when marketing knows what product is building, and support knows what the brand is promising, and leadership knows what customers actually want , something powerful happens. A flywheel starts turning.

But that only happens when someone is intentional about creating connection.

So, ask yourself:

• Do your designers understand the tradeoffs engineering is making?

• Do your salespeople know what they’re really promising on the roadmap?

• Does your finance team see how that “expensive” CX initiative might drive 10x ROI?

If not, you’re not building a machine.

You’re just collecting parts.

From Noise to Alignment

People need to understand the bigger picture. They need to see how their work fits into something larger. That sense of clarity and connection can drive better outcomes across the board.

Here’s one simple experiment:

For two weeks, try scheduling three short cross-team coffees.

Start every meeting with:

“What’s something your team is working on that mine should know?”

This isn’t about grand strategy.

It’s about small, consistent acts of connection.

Because in a world where anyone can copy your features, poach your talent, or undercut your prices — your deepest advantage is something they can’t see or steal.

They can’t copy your connections.

And that’s where clarity lives. That’s where alignment happens. That’s how brands become more than the sum of their parts.

So…

What connections are missing in your organization?