The High Cost of Rigid Thinking: Why Stuck-in-the-Past Leadership Is Failing Us

Some of us have a propensity to dislike change, be comfortable with the status quo and resort to rigid thinking. This narrow attitude shows up in every corner of our civic and business landscape. Creative and innovative thinking, which was once a national trait, has become the preserve of the well-off or self-employed.

A perceived lack of moral cohesion has fostered a crop of lazy leaders, overly dependent on the rule book of policies and procedures. Employees and middle managers trying to use their initiative, employ lateral thinking or embrace a more creative mindset are soon disillusioned by mind-stifling dullness or forced by attrition to give up thinking like fully formed humans.

Technology must benefit us all.

The changing dynamics in the way we work and live, seems too complex a challenge for some business leaders. They cling to outdated management models where healthy working conditions, flexibility, autonomy, and fair pay are considered outrageous demands. We understand that some functions require a physical presence, and that collaboration and team cohesion benefit from face-to-face communication, but many tasks can be achieved remotely. Flexibility is not a perk; it is a necessity that enables people to be in and stay in work. What is technology for, if not to make our lives better and easier? Technology must benefit all of us and not be harnessed solely for the profit of shareholders.

Some workplace cultures still reflect a deep cynicism regarding the working power dynamic. Sure, we have health and safety, employment laws and a minimum wage to keep us on the legitimate side of serfdom, but that line can be as thin as a CEO’s skin. Trusting the process of change requires leaders to have confidence in the workplace culture and a visionary mindset.

We all know people who have been forced ‘back’ into the office even as they have worked entirely remotely or hybrid these past five years. Some have been forced to resign due to the myopic inflexibility of management or have found chaos in the office, with people fighting over meeting rooms in which to conduct online meetings. Such rigid corporate thinking exposes a weakness in collaborative prowess and organisational planning.

Rigid Corporate Thinking

Technology has given us the opportunity to create operational models that enhance workflow while allowing people some level of flexibility. Many of these intransigent organisations employ highly qualified, creative thinkers who could iron out the logistics given the opportunity. Leaders who cannot think outside the confines of outdated workplace ideologies are subjecting everyone to the whims of their poor mental agility.

Hybrid is working.

Evidence shows that hybrid working works well if implemented properly. The European Debrief - Living and Working in the EU Survey (2025) found that only 41% of Britain’s workforce is able to engage in hybrid working, while other European countries have embraced the trend with Germany’s workforce is on 69%, the Netherlands 77.5%, Ireland 72.5%, Belgium 68% and Finland 70%. The winds of change have blown in a new era, ready or not. Leaders that aren’t nimble and responsive to social change will, like the Luddites, be left behind the innovation curve.

Human capabilities

Where we do have hybrid or remote working, some organisations resort to ‘Big Brother’ type HR practices, showing them to be both out of step and out of their depth. When we lose the art of conversation and treat people like automatons, other harmful practices will follow. In the void where a relationship of mutual trust, collaboration and benefit should be, is a space open to exploitation and disengagement.

There will always be employees who skive and freeload, but that happens in the office too and there are mechanisms to move them on. What we should be doing is equipping and empowering people with the tools, skills, and incentives to work flexibly and independently, without having to resort to micromanagement tactics. Who better to help design and streamline this new working landscape than those who are in the field? Top-down management is vital of course, but bottom-up development is where things get interesting, where they evolve and adapt to the environment and its latent potential. The era of rigid thinking will be viewed in retrospect, as a patent failure to innovate and the inability to realize our human resourcefulness.

Written by MHScot Team Member, Sonia Last.