Workplace Jiujitsu #15: Go With The Flow

To maintain fulfillment, balance, and energy at work, operating with existing organizational patterns helps. Rich Gilbert calls this "going with the flow".

Workplace Jiujitsu #15: Go With The Flow

It starts with knowing how the company operates on default:

• Who makes decisions?
• How are decisions made?
• What language do the people use?
• What processes are already in place?
• What resources are readily available?

Use this knowledge of the company culture to navigate your role with minimal resistance and maximum influence. When pitching a new idea:

• Talk to the right people
• Use the correct channels
• Adopt the language
• Let the organization's inertia do the work

Consistency in going with the flow wins trust, and over time, that influence compounds.

This isn't playing politics at work. It's positioning your actions strategically so that they land better. Think of organizational culture as existing codebase architecture. Fighting it creates technical debt while working with it creates maintainable solutions.

Open Challenge For You Make one flow-aligned move this week: a tweak, a comment, or a suggestion that nudges rather than disrupts.