Let the Dead Teams Die

Some teams are like plants that never take root. We can water them, move them to better soil, even talk to them every day, but nothing grows.

The team’s output is low. Accountability is spotty at best. The work gets done, but never in a way that pushes quality or the mission forward. Performance plateaus, and nothing in their behavior suggests urgency to change it.

Even so, we invest so much energy supporting and tending to these teams. Just like a dead plant, more water won’t bring it to life, right? So let them die.

How Do We Even Spot Them?

Here’s a few ways. If you have a few of your own, offer them up in the comments below:

• They nod along in meetings, but nothing changes once the meeting ends.
• The room is quiet—too quiet. Artificial harmony hides the real issues.
• Every idea is “too hard,” “too risky,” or “not a problem worth solving.”
• They defend the status quo like it’s sacred and shut down anything that threatens it.
• Every spark of momentum comes from us—never from them.

Leaders still keep pushing, though. Sometimes it’s ego: If I’m good enough, I can turn this team around. Sometimes it’s optics: At least it looks like I’m trying. There’s the fear of quitting, because walking away feels like failure. And of course, the sunk-cost fallacy—We’ve already invested too much time to stop now. Want to know the truth?

“Not every fire needs putting out—especially the ones people are happily standing in.”

What we overlook though are the costs, and the price is often steep:

• Opportunity cost. High-potential teams are starving for our attention.
• Morale drain. Watching our effort evaporate can sap our energy, credibility, and patience.
• Distorted culture signals. Our top performing teams see us investing more in the unwilling than in them. And perhaps they’re craving more attention to continue growing.

Research backs this up. Bryan Weiner’s work on Organizational Readiness for Change shows that teams only move when they want the change and believe they can pull it off. Without both commitment and confidence, no amount of watering matters. Just like a plant that won’t take root—you can keep pouring energy in, but nothing will ever grow.

So What Do We Do?

When more water inevitably doesn’t work, here’s what will:

• Set the bar. Make expectations clear, measurable, and time-bound so we know when it’s time to stop watering.
• Limit the effort. Give just enough support to meet that bar—no fertilizer, no extra sunlight.
• Use contrast. Let healthy plants thrive in view. Their growth sparks natural pressure on the wilted ones.
• Follow through. When commitments aren’t met, act. Otherwise, we may soon find weeds.
• Keep the gate open. If the team decides it’s ready to grow, make the way back obvious.

Our job isn’t to fix everyone. Nor is it to impose our will. It’s to put our effort where it moves the people who actually want to move. The rest? Give them a clear path to join when they’re ready, then get back to watering the plants that are growing.

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