The other kind of debt
Founders hear a lot about technical debt — the shortcuts in code that produce ongoing maintenance cost. There’s a less-discussed cousin: organisational debt.
Organisational debt is the accumulated cost of shortcuts in how the business is run. Decisions made without writing them down. Roles that were never properly defined. Processes that work but only because specific people compensate. Cultural patterns that grew up without intention.
Each piece feels small. Each is rational at the moment it’s incurred. Cumulatively, organisational debt slows the business in ways that are hard to trace — decisions feel slow, people feel uncertain, conflicts emerge over things that should have been settled long ago.
Founders who watch for organisational debt — and pay it back deliber...
