The Motte and Bailey (Part 3 of 5)

Here's why both sides need the retreat:

Leaders need deniability. Teams need survival.

Your company is insane.

And everyone's pretending it's normal.

Monday morning: "Be strategic! Take ownership! Drive innovation!"

Monday afternoon: "Did you follow the SOP? Where's the process documentation?"

Nobody gets fired for following the book.

Everyone knows this.

The double bind:

Strategic thinking that fails = career suicide.

SOP compliance = survival even when it fails.

Guess which one people choose?

Watch the journey of the high performer:

Month 1: "I'll be strategic!"

Month 3: Blamed for deviation

Month 6: Follows every SOP religiously

Month 12: Employed but dead inside

Leadership thinks they're asking for innovation.

They're rewarding compliance.

Teams aren't confused—they've decoded the real rules.

The motte and bailey isn't the disease. It's the symptom.

Remember the retreats from Part 1?

Now you know why. When "strategic" gets you fired but SOPs keep you safe, retreat isn't just rational—it's required.

Now, watch what happens to language itself...

Next: How strategic-but-follow-SOPs destroy language.