Coasting Is Not Leading: The Risks of Corporate Folklore 🧙

The Comfort of Cruise Control

Running a business is a lot like driving a car on a long journey.

At first, you’re hands-on with everything – changing gears, checking signs, scanning the road for hazards. You’re alert and adaptive.

But after a while, once the motorway feels smooth and familiar, it’s tempting to hit cruise control. The car keeps moving, the engine hums, and everything seems fine.

That’s what corporate folklore feels like. It’s cruise control for your company. And it works—until it doesn’t.

What Is Corporate Folklore?

Corporate folklore is the inherited wisdom, unwritten rules, and sacred cows that live in your business culture. It’s the stuff that sounds like:

❌ “That’s how we’ve always done it.”

❌ “We tried changing that once—it didn’t work.”

❌ “It’s not broken, so why fix it?”

This mindset feels safe. Familiar. Efficient. But it also means you’re driving with your eyes closed to new opportunities—and oncoming risks.

“The most dangerous phrase in language is ‘we’ve always done it this way.’”
— Grace Hopper

3 Reasons Corporate Folklore Puts Your Business at Risk

1. It kills curiosity.

When the answer is always “we’ve done it before,” no one explores better ways. Growth comes from asking “What if?” — not from memorizing what was.

2. It discourages fresh thinking.

New team members stop offering ideas because the rules are already written. You didn’t hire smart people to follow a script, did you?

3. It ignores the road ahead.

Markets shift. Customer expectations change. Tech evolves. If your company is still reacting like it’s 2018, you’re going to miss the next turn.

So, What’s the Alternative?

✅ Treat best practices as starting points, not gospel.
Ask “Why do we do it this way?” at least once a quarter.

✅ Encourage healthy friction.
Disagreeing doesn’t mean dysfunction—it means people care enough to challenge assumptions.

✅ Stay off cruise control.
Get back in the driver’s seat. Scan the horizon. Adjust the route as you go.

Your Move, Leader

Corporate folklore is cosy, but coasting isn’t leading.

The best business leaders don’t just keep the engine running—they navigate actively, question continuously, and adapt boldly. They know that today’s “tried and true” might be tomorrow’s “tired and useless.”