When Simple Tasks Become Complex: A Cautionary Tale

I saw a lightbulb go out in the office last week. Being proactive, I submitted a maintenance ticket.

A week later, I was met with an invite for a “Lumen Optimization & Alignment Sync”.

I walked into the conference room to find,

2 Project Managers defining the “Change Management” scope.
1 Risk Officer evaluating the liability of “vertical ladder deployment”.
1 Procurement Specialist explaining that the old bulb was “Legacy Hardware” and no longer on the preferred vendor list.
1 Sustainability Consultant wondering if we should pivot to a “Natural Light Strategy”.

After an hour of debating “Value-Add Brightness”, the VP of Infrastructure stood up.

“Great kickoff, team. Let’s move to Phase 2: The Impact Study”.

I asked: “Are we actually going to change the bulb?”

The VP laughed. “We can’t just ‘change’ it. We need to ensure the new bulb aligns with our 2026 Transparency Initiatives. We’re forming a sub-committee to draft an RFP for a consultant to tell us what color the light should be”.

The “solution?” I was handed a flashlight and told to log it as a “Temporary Workaround”.

The Catch: I now have to fill out a “Flashlight Audit Report” every Friday by 4:00 PM.

The Corporate Lesson

We often mistake process for progress.

When a simple task (as simple as changing a bulb) requires a committee, a strategy shift, and a workaround that creates more work, your process isn’t protecting the organization. It’s paralyzing it.