The invisible brake in the guidance system
Throughout his life, Georg Simon Ohm studied a phenomenon that sounds banal at first glance: the greater the resistance in an electrical circuit, the less energy flows through it. This law bears his name today - and it is surprisingly precise when applied to organizations.
The principle of Ohm's law can also be observed in management systems: Where organizational resistance increases - too many coordination loops, lack of clarity, unclear responsibilities - people's energy also flows more slowly and less directionally. At some point, almost none at all.
An underestimated phenomenonnoun
In conversations with managers, one sentence comes up more and more often: «It's getting harder to find good people - and even harder to keep them.» That may be true. But it is worth taking a closer look. Because often the real cause is not outside on the market, but in your own system.
Many management structures were designed in a time that no longer exists. Hierarchies that originally provided stability sometimes create the opposite today: decisions take too long, responsibilities are unclear, energy goes into coordination instead of impact. The result is a silent, creeping loss of energy that is not immediately visible but can be clearly felt.
Making resistance visible
In practice, I regularly observe that managers do not recognize this resistance as such for a long time. It doesn't manifest itself as a crisis, but in small symptoms: meetings that don't produce any decisions. Projects that get lost in the coordination process. Teams that wait and see instead of moving forward.
The first step towards change is diagnosis. Not with big analyses, but with honest questions: How long do important decisions actually take in our company? Would everyone in the team name the same top priority if they were asked independently of each other? And: Are we as a management team actively building skills for tomorrow - or are we mainly managing today?
These three questions are not rhetoric. They show where there is resistance in the system.
Less resistance, more effect
The good thing about Ohm's law is that it can be reversed. Lowering resistance automatically increases the flow of energy. In organizations, this means clearer decision-making processes, less coordination effort and more trust in people's ability to act.
Sometimes a team doesn't need an extra motivational boost. It needs less friction in the system.
Three questions for reflection:
- Where do you make important decisions in hours - and where in weeks?
- Does everyone in your team know the same top priority?
- Where do you experience friction that doesn't produce any effect - but only costs energy?
Perhaps this is the most important lever you have right now.
To the author:
Volkmar Völzke is a success maximizer. Book author. Consultant. Coach. Speaker. www.volkmarvoelzke.ch
