Most organisations are not short of talent. They are drowning in unnecessary work.

In the military the principle was simple: if a task did not serve the mission, it should not exist.

It sounds obvious, but it is a discipline many organisations quietly lose over time.

Documents circulate. Emails move constantly between inboxes. Work schedules fill quickly.

Yet when you step back and ask a simple question:

“How much of this actually moves the organisation forward?”

...the answer is often uncomfortable.

A surprising amount of effort is spent on what many work environments would recognise as nugatory work; tasks that keep people busy but add little real value.

Forms written because they always have been. Reports produced because “that's what we do.” Meetings that exist simply because they always have.

The organisation stays busy, but not necessarily effective.

The Cost of Nugatory Work

Nugatory work does more than waste time. It gradually drags down performance.

First, it distracts subject matter experts from the work they were hired to do.

Engineers, analysts, specialists and leaders are employed for their judgement and expertise. Yet many organisations bury them in layers of paperwork and administration. Hours are spent producing documents that few people read.

Second, it creates the illusion of productivity.

People appear busy, but activity is not the same as progress. What matters is output.

Third, it erodes morale.

Most professionals want to contribute meaningful work. When people feel their time is being used poorly, motivation fades quickly.

The Meeting Trap

One of the most common forms of nugatory work is the meeting that exists simply because it always has.

The diary fills. The same people attend. Slides are produced and notes are circulated.

But if you ask a simple question afterwards... “What decision did we actually make?”... the answer is often unclear.

Good meetings accelerate decisions and create alignment.

Bad meetings simply consume time that people could have spent moving work forward.

High-performing teams are disciplined about this. If a meeting has no clear purpose, no decision to make and no problem to solve, it probably does not need to happen.

A Rule I Always Lived By

When I was serving, I used to tell my teams something very simple:

“There will always be a reason behind every request I give you.”

And just as importantly:

“I will never ask you to do something I would not do myself.”

The message behind that rule was straightforward.

You will not be asked to do work for works sake.

Every task must have a purpose. Every request must contribute to the mission.

When people understand why something matters, they commit to it. When work feels pointless, engagement disappears quickly.

Leadership responsibility is to ensure there is clear intent behind the work being asked of people.

When people know their time is being used properly, trust grows; and with trust comes ownership.

Focus People on What They Are Good At

A high-performing organisation protects the time of its specialists.

If highly skilled people spend large parts of their day on administrative tasks, something in the system is wrong.

That work may still need to happen, but it does not necessarily need to be done by them.

Administrative tasks, document production and routine processes can often be centralised, simplified, automated or outsourced.

The goal is simple:

Allow your subject matter experts to focus on the work that actually creates value.

This is something we regularly see through our work at ETHOS – Empowering Growth.

When organisations examine how time is really being used, they often discover talented people tied up in layers of work that dilute their effectiveness.

Remove that friction and performance improves quickly. Not because people suddenly work harder, but because their effort is finally focused on the work that matters.

Presence Is Not Productivity

Another outdated assumption still sits inside many organisations.

If someone is not at their desk, the assumption is often that they are not working.

In reality, performance should be judged by output, not presence.

Strong teams focus on results, ownership and delivery... not whether someone has been sitting behind a laptop all day.

Trust plays a critical role here.

Trust creates autonomy. Autonomy encourages ownership. Ownership drives results.

When leaders trust their teams, productivity tends to rise rather than fall.

Removing the Friction

There is a simple leadership test that applies to almost every task inside an organisation:

If the work disappeared tomorrow, would anything actually get worse?

If the honest answer is no, the work probably never needed to exist in the first place.

Organisations that want higher performance need to look honestly at how their people's time is actually being used.

Often this reveals layers of bureaucracy that have quietly built up over time.

The best leaders strip that away. Not by lowering standards, but by ensuring every task serves a clear purpose.

When nugatory work is removed, people regain time and energy. Effort can be directed towards the work that actually matters.

High-performing organisations are not simply busy, they are focused.

And focus begins with a simple leadership discipline:

Stop asking people to do work that never needed to exist in the first place.