Discover why environment matters, when to adjust course, and how small changes can create lasting impact without destabilizing the business
Discover why environment matters, when to adjust course, and how small changes can create lasting impact without destabilizing the business
It was supposed to be a routine Tuesday. My team was humming along beautifully—delivering features on time, morale was high, and I actually went home at a reasonable hour for once. Then my phone rang. "We'd like you to take on an additional Department ," my CTO said, almost casually. "They're... struggling." Struggling was the corporate euphemism for what I discovered next: an engagement survey showing 25% satisfaction (yes, you read that right), and a team that had lost faith in technology, leadership, and maybe even themselves. I stared at the numbers on my screen and asked the question every leader faced in those moments: "How do I turn this ship around without sinking everything else?" That's when I remembered : The Ever Given.
In March 2021, the world watched in fascination and horror as a massive container ship wedged sideways in the Suez Canal. For six days, the Ever Given held global commerce hostage — 400 ships remained stuck, $9.6 billion worth of goods sat motionless, and supply chains that took decades to build teetered on the edge of collapse. But here's what captivated me about the rescue: they didn't use brute force. No explosives. No massive cranes attempting to yank a 200,000-ton vessel free. Instead, salvation came through patience, precision, and working with the environment rather than against it. Sand was removed grain by grain, Tugboats positioned strategically, Teams waiting for the perfect tide. Small, deliberate actions that delivered something extraordinary. And that's when it hit me: Perhaps my struggling department wasn't broken— maybe it was just stuck.
Let's be honest about our first instincts as leaders. When faced with a crisis, we want to be the hero who swoops in with a dramatic transformation. Reorganize everything! Implement new processes! Change the culture overnight! I almost fell into this trap myself. My initial plan? Restructure the entire department, implement new processes, overhaul their technology stack, and somehow magically boost engagement in 90 days. Sounds familiar? But then I remembered watching those tugboats around the Ever Given. They didn't attack from one direction with maximum force. They worked in harmony, each applying pressure at precisely the right angle, at the exact time. What if transformation wasn't about dramatic pivots, but about finding the right degree of change? Here's what I discovered: teams stuck at 25% engagement was not looking for another revolution—they were looking for someone who understood why they were stuck and had the patience to help them move forward, one careful adjustment at a time.
The Ever Given's rescue teams couldn't ignore wind speed, tide schedules, or canal width. Those were not the obstacles—they were the fundamental rules of the game. In my struggling department, I had to read different currents:
one of the teams had a new Engineering Manager. The long-time leader had left the organization, and the team was struggling with legacy architecture. They lost the trust and the belief that things can change. Any move that felt like "here we go again" would push engagement even lower.
While I was analyzing team dynamics, I realized the team had delivered several features, but none were successful and made it to production. We needed a strategy that would deliver results and create a winning momentum.
Their legacy systems weren't just old—they were deeply embedded in critical business processes. Manual work dominated their daily routine, and new developments were rare. Team struggled with multiple production failures and was constantly firefighting as on-call engineers.
The people who were in the team weren't the problem—they were the solution waiting to be unleashed. But they needed the trust that leadership would provide them the opportunity to deliver meaningful work and help them navigate current technological complexities.
Are you currently fighting your environment instead of working with it?
Here's what I learned from both the Ever Given and that department turnaround:
Instead of driving a major change, I started with a small process change, promoting the right talent to boost morale. Made the team part of a larger change management process, where they had a voice and can shape the future together.
Your turn: What's the smallest change that could yield the biggest psychological win for your team right now?
That 25% engagement score wasn't just a number, it was a valuable data about what the team could handle. I had to meet them where they were, not where I wanted them to be.
Your turn: What environmental factors are you currently ignoring that might be sabotaging even your best strategies?
Just like those tugboats working in perfect coordination, I needed allies. The struggling department had informal leaders, domain experts, and cultural influencers. My job was to empower them so they can drive the change and build trust.
Your turn: Who are the "tugboats" in your organization who could help you move the ship if you positioned them correctly?
The Ever Given rescue teams waited for the right tide. In business, sometimes that means waiting for budget approval, waiting for a key hire, or waiting for market conditions to align. Strategic patience isn't indecision: it's leadership discipline.
Your turn: What are you trying to force that might benefit from better timing?
Six months later, that "struggling" department achieved something remarkable: engagement scores jumped from 25% to 52%, and the team picked up some of the top strategies of the organization. Deployment frequency doubled, and voluntary turnover dropped to below 5%. We made an incremental adjustment and aligned the organization with the domain-driven design.
Clarified domain boundaries (reduced frustration)
Created visible wins through new strategies (rebuilt confidence)
Connected their work to business impact (restored purpose)
Promoted some of the key talents (increased trust)
Each change was small. Together, they were transformational.
The Ever Given taught me that the most powerful course corrections happen in degrees, not dramatic turns.
Right now, something in your organization probably feels "stuck in the canal." Maybe it's a team that's lost its way. Maybe it's a technology initiative that's stalled. Maybe it's your own leadership approach that needs recalibration. Before you plan your rescue mission, ask yourself: What environmental factors am I ignoring? (market conditions, team readiness, resource constraints) Where am I trying to use force instead of precision? (What big change could become a series of small ones?) Who are my tugboats? (What allies do I need to position strategically?) What does the right tide look like? (What conditions need to align before I make my move?)
Change isn't a single heroic act—it's the navigation strategy that requires reading currents, respecting the environment, and trusting that small adjustments compound into extraordinary results. The Ever Given is sailing again. My once-struggling department is now thriving. And somewhere in your organization, there's probably a ship waiting to be unstuck—not through force, but through the patient, precise art of incremental leadership.
The most powerful transformations happen when leaders learn to steer like captains, not like cowboys.
Global technology executive with over 25 years of experience leading engineering teams and driving large-scale business transformations. Senior Director of Engineering at HelloFresh, specializing in cloud-native platforms, AI/ML-powered experiences, and building high-performing organizations.