Why Throwing Spaghetti at the Wall is Killing Your Growth (and Culture)

We have all experienced it, the “let’s try a little bit of everything and see what sticks” approach. It seems scrappy and entrepreneurial. But in reality, it’s a fast track to confusion, wasted effort, and a frustrated team.

The spaghetti-at-the-wall method does more harm than good. Here’s why:

1. It communicates “we don’t know who we are.”

When you’re chasing ten different initiatives half-heartedly, you’re signaling to the market that you’re trying to be everything to everyone. That’s not strategy, it’s desperation. Without a clear point of view, values, or brand identity to guide you, you end up looking unfocused and inexperienced.

2. You spread your team way too thin.

Diluted attention across too many work streams means lower-quality output across the board. Nothing gets the time and focus it deserves, so nothing actually works. This creates frustration, low morale, and generic deliverables.

3. Big results take time.

The not-so-popular truth is that meaningful initiatives don’t deliver instant results. They require focus, sustained effort, and consistency over time. There is some merit to the phrase “fail fast” but do that by going all in on one strategically significant initiative. Learn, pivot, and apply those lessons. Don’t scatter your effort and attention and hope for the best.

4. You are building a graveyard of unfinished work.

A graveyard of half-baked projects is demoralizing. When your team never sees projects through to completion, they start to feel like failures. No wins to celebrate, no milestones to rally around. That kills motivation faster than you can say “new initiative.”

5. It might mean your business model needs work.

If spaghetti-flinging has become your go-to growth strategy, the problem isn’t execution. It might mean your core strategy is still fuzzy and needs refinement. Until you are clear on who you are, what you do, and why it’s impactful, no amount of frantic effort will translate into meaningful results.

The Takeaway

Experimentation is a necessary part of starting and/or growing any business. But too much experimentation simultaneously can read as desperation. If you are just starting out or seeking to grow, my recommendation (based on lived experience) is to pick fewer initiatives, execute on them consistently, allow time for results to occur, and let your team feel the satisfaction of seeing things through.

See you at First Light,

Britt