Episode 46
Catch the Creep, Dodge the Jailbreak
A jailbreak in New Orleans becomes a sharp metaphor for what happens when creeping dysfunction goes unchecked inside a business.
In this episode, Maartje van Krieken unpacks the hidden costs of ignoring early warning signs in organizations. Broken locks. Budget cuts. Communication breakdowns. The kind of slow decay that builds quietly until a major crisis forces everyone to pay attention.
Using the lens of operational risk escalation, Maartje explains how small process failures can snowball into full business process failure, often without anyone noticing in time. Did you know it takes most organizations 84 days to spot a critical internal issue? And that only 5% of frontline insights ever reach leadership?
That gap in awareness is where risk lives. Maartje challenges leaders to think differently: What keeps your team up at night? What friction points have they stopped mentioning? And what’s the cost of waiting too long to act? Maartje shares ideas for closing that gap, like building a culture of trust, making time to “go and see,” and running a regular cleanup cadence to address issues before they grow roots. Because when dysfunction becomes normalized, your version of a jailbreak might already be underway.
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Jailbreak as a Metaphor for Organizational Failure
02:29 The Real Source of Chaos: Creep
04:00 Early Warning Signs in Organizations
05:30 Case Study: Sales Breakdown in Industrial Gases
08:42 Case Study: Procurement Failure on Offshore Platforms
13:43 Reducing Lag Between Signal and Action
14:26 Why Most Transformations Fail
16:05 The Cost of Employee Disengagement
17:05 Culture of Trust and Transparency
18:12 Go and See: Leadership by Observation
21:26 Building a Cleanup Cadence
24:17 Business Versions of a Jailbreak
25:21 Take Action Before It’s Too Late
Links
Connect with Maartje van Krieken:
https://www.thechaosgamesconsulting.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/maartje/
https://maartjeturnschaosaround.substack.com/
Host Maartje van Krieken is a crisis strategist and decision-making expert who thrives in high-stakes business environments. Combining disaster management training, hands-on experience in global industries, and leadership skills honed as a seasoned sailor, she helps businesses navigate chaos with precision. Whether tackling transformation, scaling challenges, or leadership bottlenecks, Maartje delivers actionable insights to turn turbulence into traction.
