Leaders: Stop trying to fix it all

When things get uncertain, most of us reach for something familiar: a solution.

Fixing is fast. It makes us feel useful. Competent. In control. It soothes the quiet discomfort of not knowing what to do—by doing something, anything—quickly.

You've seen it. A leader gets a tough question in a meeting—something vague, complex, vaguely threatening. No clear answer. But silence feels risky. So they make a confident-sounding call and move on.

Ah … back in control. Even if they're not.

Dopamine hit. Crisis averted. On to the next.

When Control Becomes Controlling

This is the number one trap ACT Leadership, a leadership coaching company, sees leaders fall into: the seduction of fixing. Especially in fast-moving environments where speed signals competence—and hesitation can be mistaken for incompetence.

But fixing everything isn't leadership. And control, in a complex system, quickly becomes controlling.

The Body Says: Do Something

This urge to act isn't just cultural. It's biological.

Uncertainty triggers adrenaline. Adrenaline drives action. We crave homeostasis—a return to predictability, to control.

As neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett reminds us, the brain is a prediction machine. When our expectations don't match what's happening, our nervous system reacts as if we're under threat—even if the "threat" is just a tough stakeholder meeting or ambiguous market signal.

What worked in the jungle (see threat → act fast) doesn't work in the boardroom, or in the swirling ecosystem of people, priorities, and pressure most leaders face now.

Complexity Doesn't Care About Your Org Chart

Complexity isn't just a fancier word for chaos. It means we're operating in systems that are dynamic, interdependent, and unpredictable. There are no silver bullets—only patterns, ripple effects, and trade-offs.

As Ron Heifetz and Marty Linsky noted in their work on adaptive leadership, technical fixes don't solve adaptive challenges. Yet leaders often default to the technical—because it's faster, cleaner, and more comfortable.

In these systems, fixing the visible issue often means ignoring the real one. You tighten the process—but erode trust. You add capacity—but exhaust your team. You act fast—but miss the slow signals that mattered most.

Helping Isn't Always Helpful

Fixing has its place. When the problem is technical, clear, and urgent, decisive action is critical.

But when the context is complex, fixing too quickly can make things worse. Leaders unintentionally create dependence. Teams start waiting for answers instead of growing their own.

As Jennifer Garvey Berger writes, complexity demands new ways of sensemaking—ones that rely on curiosity, perspective-taking, and creating space for multiple truths. These capacities often live outside our "fix-it" reflex.

The best leaders we work with are learning to design for complexity—empowering people closer to the work to see patterns, anticipate shifts, and act without always looking up for permission.

Act Fast, Regret Later

We know: It feels better to do something than nothing. But doing the wrong thing—too early, too often—carries a hidden cost.

Leaders tell us they want to be less reactive. That they're tired of solving the same problems twice. That the adrenaline high of jumping in fades quickly, and what's left is a team that's learned to escalate, not think.

"I Don't Know Yet" Is a Leadership Skill

Here's the shift:
Leadership in complexity starts with awareness.

Awareness of your own flinch to fix.
Awareness of the system—not just the symptom.

And from there: choice.
Choosing to pause.
To hold space.
To say, "I don't know yet."
To stay with what's unclear, long enough for something real to emerge.

That's not a passive stance. It's active restraint.

It's holding space when your whole nervous system wants to fill it.
It's staying curious when everyone expects answers.
It's leading the conditions, not the outcome.

Not everything urgent is yours to solve.
Fixing may offer relief.
But leadership—the kind we need now—is built on something braver.