Don’t Check the Box, F*** the box!
Don’t Check the Box, F*** the box; by that, I mean FLIP the box.
In today’s fast-paced environment, many of us find ourselves trapped in a cycle of completing tasks just to “check a box” with education, at work, or personally. This pervasive mentality of box-checking, while giving an illusion of productivity and accomplishment, often results in meaningless and redundant activities.
What’s worse is that, in a study with university students, 40% of adults admit to procrastinating, simply pushing more boxes to check to the next day (Amarnath, 2023). I’ve seen firsthand how this mindset infiltrates our daily lives, leading to a sense of superficial achievement. While temporarily satisfying, the urge to mark items off a list often masks deeper inefficiencies and hinders genuine progress and innovation. In my experience, the urgency of the deadline often leads to superficial box-checking and missed opportunities leading to detrimental downstream impacts.
The Corporate Illusion of Productivity
Checking boxes has become pervasive at a corporate level. It’s a mentality that makes us feel productive, complete, and as though we’ve accomplished something or hold some degree of control or power. But at the end of the day, these boxes are nothing more than the corporate equivalent of the infamous “TPS reports” from Office Space. I bet a lot of you are nodding along, thinking, “Yup!”
In my 25 years in corporate America, I’ve dealt with my fair share of box-checking bosses. Call it rebellious, but I’ve always asked questions like, “Why are we doing this senseless and meaningless activity?” Of course, those questions often came with consequences—being told I’m “crossing the line,” pulled aside for a “talk,” or told that we simply had different philosophical approaches. Sure, I have ideas—but clearly, you don’t want me to have them because your box may not get checked!
This mentality isn’t exclusive to corporate culture. It starts in schools, seeps into home life, and becomes ingrained. We check things off a list, pat ourselves on the back, and say, “Yay, me! I’ve done a good job.”
But what if all of that is wrong? What if checking boxes perpetuates an underlying problem that hasn’t even been discovered? What if it’s just a filler activity or a way to make someone look good on the surface?
These are all valid questions, and I’m here to tell you: you should be asking them.
Projects, Deadlines, and Gantt charts!
This is a story that I believe many can relate to about a go-to-market (GTM) project in a prior organization. This project centered around a new product offering at the company. It involved a project management tool that tracked everyone’s “tasks” or checkboxes and provided a pretty Gantt chart for execs to track in a deck. Leaders were heavily focused on task completion, but no one was asking critical questions:
- What tasks are missing?
- Are the right people assigned to the tasks?
- Are these the right tasks?
- What does it mean when a task is marked complete?
When I began pushing back, my concerns were initially not well received. It became clear that people just wanted to move forward and check items off their lists without deeper reflection. I was removed from certain meetings, and essentially dismissed. During this process, I questioned why certain tasks were absent and why individuals with more expertise weren’t assigned to key responsibilities.
Months later, the issues I had flagged—concerns that had been dismissed earlier—resurfaced at the end of the project, causing significant delays, and GTM failures for the company which had financial repercussions due to the misrepresentation the completed tasks caused. I effectively became the whistleblower, pointing out that many so-called “complete” tasks were meaningless in substance and were simply there to make folks look productive and appease execs. I pointed out these things months before but ignored them as I was told to “stay in your lane.” After all, I was just supposed to provide updates to the CRM on the “RACI” chart with some empty boxes to check.
Ultimately, in the slog of bureaucracy, it became evident that the project leader was more concerned with looking good on paper and pleasing the “boss” than addressing crucial priorities like company goals and profitability. This is not to say that Gantt charts are not important and project deadlines aren’t critical; but it shouldn’t be at the expense of ignored ideas, people, or problems. This experience underscored the importance of questioning processes and ensuring that task completion truly aligns with meaningful outcomes.
I propose a transformative approach: “F the box” – FLIP the Box!
- F: Find out why – ask why, how, who, and when. Challenge social and company norms.
- L: Let Go – of past assumptions, power, and insecurities. Let go of concerns about what others think. Just let go.
- I: Innovate– and Ideate. Explore alternatives. Consider what you want to do but believe you “can’t” and envision the art of the possible.
- P: Pursue – engagement through conversation. Pursue your idea. Build trust, be proactive, and prevent the need to check boxes by addressing the root causes.
The FLIP the box method encourages us to ask critical questions, challenge existing norms, and explore new possibilities to break free from the constraints of mindless box-checking. Letting go of outdated ideas and embracing proactive communication fosters a culture of trust and sustained engagement. Instead of perpetuating the cycle of superficial task completion, let’s FLIP the box and uncover the true potential of our actions, ensuring that our efforts lead to innovative, meaningful, and impactful outcomes. Leaders, I can’t stress enough how important this concept is.
By embodying these principles, we can move beyond the superficial and create a more meaningful and dynamic environment. FLIP the box! Next time you are in a meeting, and are asked to complete a meaningless task – just say, “F*** it… or rather, FLIP it!
References
Amarnath, A., Ozmen, S., Struijs, S., de Wit, L., & Cuijpers, P. (2023, April). Effectiveness of a guided internet-based intervention for procrastination among university students – A randomized controlled trial study protocol, Internet Interventions. Volume 32, 2023, 100612, ISSN 2214-7829. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221478292300012X
