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Why we exist, Who we serve, How we scale
The quarterly review meeting was tense. Marketing blamed engineering for not implementing features fast enough. Engineering blamed product development for changing priorities too often. Product blamed sales for making unrealistic promises. Meanwhile, HR, finance, and legal sat on the sidelines, throwing up occasional roadblocks when initiatives threatened their policies or budgets.
Lost in the drama was any mention of the customer, to say nothing for shared purpose. The company’s functional design—each with its own goals, metrics, and incentives—optimized for individual departmental capability rather than customer outcomes.
This situation is so common, so normalized, that it’s boring. Traditional structures arranged by function (marketing, sales, engineering), geography, or division create artificial barriers between people who should be collaborating. Teams focus on pleasing their bosses rather than serving a true business outcome. Support functions become gatekeepers rather than enablers.