Client: Jennifer, COO of a commercial contractor
The surface goal:
Jennifer said she needed faster decisions so projects would stop stalling.
What she said that told me there was more:
In the middle of the conversation, she said, “I leave the office at six, but I’m still answering approvals at nine.” Then she paused and added, “I don’t think my team will move unless I bless everything.”
That’s when I knew this wasn’t about speed. It was about control and trust.
What changed in my understanding:
At first, I thought we were solving a process issue. When her real purpose became clear, I understood she wanted freedom from being the final checkpoint on every decision. She didn’t want faster approvals. She wanted to stop being the bottleneck and still feel confident nothing would fall apart.
That clarity shifted the work from workflow tweaks to authority design.
Her real goal was an evening all to herself.