Often the problem isn't a secret. It's the quiet constraint everyone's been managing around instead of naming.

I spent seven years in corporate manufacturing watching leadership make process decisions with no floor-level knowledge, on people who had the answers and were never asked. I watched a four-person team outproduce a seven-person team because nobody had gotten in their way. I left after seven years of watching communication and respect erode until the process did too. That's the constraint I look for now. Some engagements stay traditional. Some involve AI and automation. Most involve some of each.