Is Your Organization Nimble or Just Playing Pinball?

I’m sitting in a glass box of an office at an organization floundering with its internal communication (among other dysfunctions—we’ll get to that). They’ve recently restructured, are scaling up rapidly, and have a CEO who’s declared this the year of investing in employees. The sentiment from employees? Mixed.

Long-time employees feel like the small-company culture they once knew is slipping away—and they're not wrong. But despite the growing pains, leaders keep insisting that the organization is “nimble.” Decisions get made quickly, and there’s little red tape.

Which makes me wonder: Are you nimble or just playing pinball?

Being nimble means intentionality and alignment with business objectives. It’s not just people reacting to whatever’s coming at them. That’s pinball. Here’s how to tell the difference.

3 signs you’re nimble (and not just flailing):

✅ Decisions are strategic, not reactive.
Nimble organizations make quick decisions based on clear business goals. Pinball organizations make quick decisions because something’s on fire.

✅ Employees know how their work connects to the bigger picture.
Nimble organizations help employees see how their efforts ladder up to business success. In pinball organizations, employees are too busy dodging obstacles to care.

✅ Change is purposeful and communicated clearly.

Nimble organizations adjust course with transparency and intention. Pinball organizations just keep launching new initiatives without explaining why.

And about those other dysfunctions? Leadership alignment is shaky at best, and communication tends to be more reactive than strategic—another reason it feels more like pinball than progress.

It’s great to be nimble—but let’s not mistake chaos for agility. If you want employees to stay engaged, they need to understand why changes are happening, how it ties to the bigger picture, and what their role is.