The Workplace Chameleon with Dr. Celina
This podcast is about the changing organization and our relationship to it -- how we enter, thrive and exit. Each episode is meant to be thoughtful, funny, and applicable. Stories, insight, and "words to say" come from Dr. Celina's experience with over two and a half decades of listening, learning from and leading conversations in hundreds of companies. Each episode will explore a new theme about life arriving in, interacting with and leaving the workplace.
The Workplace Chameleon with Dr. Celina
Episode 92: Call Out the Drift
Drift doesn’t happen all at once — it sneaks in quietly, a degree at a time, until suddenly you’re far off course. In this episode of The Workplace Chameleon, Dr. Celina Peerman explores how leaders can spot and call out drift before it becomes a costly detour. She defines drift as the gradual, often unnoticed shift away from original goals, values, or priorities and shows how it creeps into projects, culture, and team energy through small, well-intentioned choices. You’ll hear why leaders often avoid naming drift — fearing it will sound like criticism, disrupt momentum, or reveal uncertainty — and why silence only delays the problem. With practical steps for noticing signals, naming them neutrally, and inviting curiosity instead of blame, Dr. Celina reframes drift checks as course corrections, not personal failings. She also offers ways to make drift checks a normal team habit, from quick alignment questions to mid-project reviews, and highlights how leaders who model curiosity create safer, stronger teams. This week’s challenge: in your next team conversation, ask one alignment question — “Are we still headed where we said we would go?” You might be surprised what surfaces, and how quickly you can realign.
For more leadership tools and resources, visit www.drcelinapeerman.com
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Welcome to the Workplace Chameleon. This is Dr Selina. This is where we aim to explore how we adapt, align and lead with intention, even when this workplace is getting kind of wild. Even when this workplace is getting kind of wild. Today, I want to share with you some ideas about something that I see come up every day in my work, potentially, and out with clients. It happens to all of us, and the word I want you to consider is drift D-R-I-F-T. And no, I don't mean drifting off during a long meeting, although, let's be honest, we've all been there. I'm talking about the slow, almost invisible ways teams, projects, projects and priorities slip off course one degree at a time. No blow up, no obvious mistake, just drift the danger. If you don't notice it early, you end up way off the mark. Think about an airplane off the mark. Think about an airplane. Some of you may not know that when I was 20, I actually did my private pilot's license. And if you drift just one degree off of takeoff, it doesn't look like much at first, but the time right, you cross any sort of the country, you can be miles, hundreds of miles even from where you're supposed to land. And my two little Cedar Cessna versus a major airline and a large Boeing jet. But it's all relative. Think about it in the water, maybe you're not a flight person, but you're a boat person. Drift when we're not clear on where we're going and we're not paying attention to the signals, we find ourselves somewhere we didn't plan to be. That's drift, and while it's almost always unintentional, the cost of ignoring it is high. So what do I actually mean by drift? I think I want to define it for us and have us wrestle with it. So here's my definition Drift is the gradual, often unnoticed shift away from original goals, plans or values.
Speaker 1:It doesn't happen all at once. I do think it sneaks in through small choices, little adjustments or moments of inattention. Here are a few ways that I see it pop up in our teams and organizations. A project slowly expands to include work that wasn't in the original scope. By the way, this is one of my favorite concepts because once I caught myself doing it, it was so helpful to know what it's called, and it's called scope creep. Don't do it. Look it up. Great concept. And what I found out about it is when you try to be nice and you go oh sure I could do that, oh sure I could do that, sure, sure. We can add that you end up in scope, creep outside of the original parameters and now you've drifted and, depending on how you do your work, you may not be getting paid for any of that extra. Being helpful is one thing, running a good business is another. Okay, a few other things I drifted. Notice that I just explained it a little further.
Speaker 1:Priorities shift quietly but no one updates the plan. The why behind the work gets fuzzy and people start going through the motions. Meetings get longer but less productive because everyone's busy but fewer things are moving forward and a company value, like customer first, starts slipping because the team is chasing speed instead of service. Most of the time, drift is not caused by laziness or sabotage. It happens because people who are trying to help, even when circumstances change, or because the momentum of day-to-day busyness pushes us off course. What's the tricky part? Drift often feels too small to matter in the moment. It's just one small adjustment, it's only a week late, it's not that big of a deal. But small shifts add up, left unchecked. They change the entire outcome.
Speaker 1:Consider this If you looked at your team right now, what would you see? The signs of a drift, as when would they be? What would that look like? A project, a process, maybe even morale, engagement or culture? If drift is common, why don't we call it out sooner?
Speaker 1:I think there are a couple of reasons that I see in my work. We are afraid it will sound like criticism. Nobody wants to be the nitpicker. We're unsure. If we're right, maybe we're the ones misunderstanding. So we, you know, just shuffle along thinking oh, they must know better. We want to keep the peace. Silence feels ill. Let me try that again. Got me All right. Silence we're going to just leave that on the recording Feels easier than potentially stirring things up. Or you know what? We don't want to lose momentum. Everyone's busy. The project is moving. Why pause to question it? But here's the truth Silence doesn't keep the peace, it just delays the problem. I think I feel like I need to repeat that one more time, especially for me. Silence doesn't keep the peace, it just delays the problem. You've heard me say if you don't name the real thing, you solve the wrong problem.
Speaker 1:Drift is easiest to fix, though when it's small. By the time the signs are obvious. The correction takes more energy, time and sometimes, quite frankly, credibility. I think, about projects where we're going to launch a new service or a new project, and I see examples come up where the team is laser focused but slowly changes creep in when other departments start adding things. Marketing wants extra features, operations adjust timelines, leadership shifts priorities, but no one updates anybody. And here we are six months later. The product or the new service is late, over budget. The team's burned out, not because they were not capable, but because the drift went unspoken for too long. Squirrel alert what you don't call out early will cost you more later.
Speaker 1:Calling out the drift doesn't wants to check the compass. Step one notice the signal. Look for small signs. Repeated missed deadlines, scope creep, shifts in tone, a dip in enthusiasm. Sometimes your gut tells you more than your brain does. Step two name it neutrally. Use observations, not accusations. Try, I'm noticing we seem to be moving in a slightly different direction than we planned, or it looks like our priorities have shifted.
Speaker 1:Step three invite curiosity. Ask open-ended questions like what's contributing to this shift? Has something changed? We should account for. When you frame it with curiosity, you take the sting out of the conversation. Take the sting out of the conversation. You're not accusing anyone, you're checking the map together. No-transcript curiosity.
Speaker 1:You know, and I also think about the fact that the best leaders don't just react to drift, they build drift checks into the rhythm of their teams. They quit questions in meetings Are we still on track? To make sure? Mid-project reviews they're not just task updates but they're alignment checks. Are we still heading where we said we would? Or open the door for others? Encourage your team to say I think we might be drifting, and when they do, thank them. They're helping the team, not slowing it down. I've watched leaders do this. Recently. I saw one ask their team pausing halfway through a major project if we keep going exactly as we are right now, will we end up where we wanted? I love this practice because sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes the pause reveals issues that saved weeks of rework later Weeks. How many of you love rework? I've not met anybody who loves doing the same job over again because it didn't work the first time. He treated in this case, in this project, drift checks like pit stops on a race day Not a delay but an advantage.
Speaker 1:I think there's a couple of other definitions and ideas that come to me in this material that I've been doing some writing about. I love the word alignment. It just always speaks to me in this material that I've been doing some writing about. I love the word alignment. It just always speaks to me about being consistent with the original goals, values and intended outcomes. Now, if they shift, we just need to make sure they shift together, which is why I often think about this as a course correction adjustments made to bring work back on track after recognizing the drift.
Speaker 1:I also used the word curiosity earlier, very intentionally, because it is different than judgment. Curiosity asks what's happening here. Judgment asked who's at fault. Here are a couple more team reflection questions you could borrow.
Speaker 1:One where might we be drifting right now as a project team or organization? Two, what's one sign of drift we've learned to catch early? Three, how can we make drift checks a normal, safe part of our work? Ah, drift does not fix itself If you notice it. Name it, not with blame, but, as I've explored in this episode, with curiosity and always care. That's how you stop the small shifts from becoming big detours.
Speaker 1:So here's your challenge for this week. In your next team discussion, ask one alignment question Are we still headed where we said we would go? See what comes up? You might be surprised, and I know you will be glad you asked. Thank you for joining me on this episode of the Workplace Chameleon Remember chameleon. Cells are uniquely designed to reflect the light around them. They don't absorb it, they reflect it back and make it all work. So if this episode got you thinking about your own projects, share it with someone else. That's your opportunity to reflect light back, to lead with intention, to protect your priorities and, as always, keep smashing those mental health stigmas and learn something new today.
