The 3 Misperceptions Shaping Work (and Ourselves)
By: Tim Cynova // Published: March 3, 2025
We often talk about work as if it’s this solid, predictable, and controllable thing. Even when you “stand still” there are thousands of imperceptible movements taking place to keep you there.
Many organizations continue to operate as if the past is a blueprint for the future, as if stability is something we can manufacture. These are misperceptions, and ones that shape not only how organizations respond to change but also how individuals navigate their careers, their workplaces, and their lives. (At the very least, all of this should probably be accompanied by that disclaimer: “Past performance is not indicative of future results.”)
1. Change: Mistaking the Impermanent for the Permanent
Organizations often behave as if the pandemic-era shifts were temporary detours rather than signals of deeper structural issues. This shows up when people treat hybrid work debates, workforce attrition, and shifting employee expectations as disruptions to be managed rather than evidence that conditions have already changed.
What you can do:
One of the things the last five years has offered us is to assume change is the constant, not the exception.
Regularly ask, What are we holding onto that no longer serves us? Or, What would happen if that thing core to our company disappears overnight?
Design work structures and systems that are adaptable—think flexible policies, iterative processes, and an orientation to experiment.
2. Unreliable: Assuming Stability Where There Is None
We love the illusion of stability. Assuming along the way that rigid hierarchies, relentless “productivity,” and outdated measures of success create strong, enduring companies. In reality, they create brittle ones.
Companies that center traditional power and decision-making structures mistake familiarity for security. Stability doesn’t come from enforcing the old ways, it comes from designing workplaces that can adapt, evolve, and respond to what’s actually happening in the moment. We are designing workplace futures that don't yet exist, this is science fiction with no predetermined templates to follow.
What you can do:
Redefine stability as the ability to pivot, not the ability to stay the same.
Reevaluate what “success” means in your organization—are you measuring output or impact? Does the team even agree on the definition of those words?
Distribute decision-making and power so your organization isn’t dependent on a select few. At the very least, articulate the kind of decision-making process being used (e.g., command, consult, consensus, vote, or the absence of a decision which is itself a decision).
3. Control: Misperceiving Workplaces (and Ourselves) as Fixed
There is no singular, fixed “way things are done here.” There is only the present moment, and the choices made within it.
Workplaces evolve, just like the people that comprise them. Organizations that resist transformation aren’t preserving their identity—they’re stifling their potential. The highest performing teams and workplaces are those that understand their culture isn’t a set of policies written years ago. It’s a living, breathing thing that must grow, change, and respond to the world around it.
What you can do:
Approach workplace culture as something to be actively shaped by the people currently in your organization, not something that “just is.”
Make learning, growth, and iteration part of your company’s DNA.
Ask your coworkers: What’s one thing we assume is unchangeable about this company that we might want to reimagine?
Where do you see these misperceptions playing out in your own organization (or, you know, a “friend’s” organization)?
In this “quick course” we explore a structured approach to:
Documenting and sketching roles effectively
Drafting job descriptions with ease
Navigating stressful leave planning periods
Handling employee departures and arrivals smoothly
Crafting and optimizing job roles and team dynamics, even in hybrid workplace environments
Tim Cynova is an HR and org design consultant, an educator, and podcaster dedicated to dusting off workplaces to (re)center values-based approaches where more people can thrive. He is a certified Senior Professional in HR (SPHR), trained mediator, principal at WSS HR LABS, on faculty at New York’s The New School, Minneapolis College of Art & Design, and Hollyhock Leadership Institute. He has held executive leadership roles in a variety of nonprofits for the better part of the last 20 years.
