5 Reasons Why Companies Ignore Operations Leaders.
Sales gets the glory. Marketing gets the budget. Meanwhile, operations keep the business running and gets none of the credit. Why? Because the people making the big decisions (boards, investors, and McKinsey style consultants) don’t understand what actually makes a business work. Here’s why operations leaders get ignored, and why companies that sideline them eventually regret it.
1. The Boardroom Doesn’t Understand Operations
The C-Suite speaks strategy. Operation speaks execution. And the problem? The people at the top think execution is easy. Boards love non-picture thinkers but forget that vision without execution is just a daydream. McKinsey-trained consultants prioritize financial engineering over operational efficiency, treating execution like a commodity rather than skill.
Reality Check: The companies that dominate their industries (Amazon, Toyota, Apple) win because they obsess over execution.
2. Operations Success is Invisible, Until It Fails
When things run smoothly, no one notices. When things go wrong, operations takes the blame. If sales hits a record-breaking quarter, leadership celebrates the sales team. But if fulfillment can’t keep up? That’s an operations failure. The better ops leaders do their jobs, the less visible their work becomes, which makes executives underestimate their impact. Reality Check: If leadership only notices operations when something breaks, they’re already behind.
3. The “Strategic” Teams Get the Budget
Companies love throwing money at sales, marketing and RND. Anything that promises future revenue. Operations? That’s just an expense to minimize. Sales leaders get the budget because they “drive growth.” Marketing gets the budget because they “build the brand.” Operations gets what’s left, despite being the only team responsible for making sure any of it actually works. Reality Check: Cutting ops spending to “save money” is like removing an engine to make a car lighter.
4. Layoffs Are the Lazy Fix
McKinsey and other big consulting firms have a go-to playbook; identify inefficiencies (or just make them up), recommend mass layoffs, collect a massive consulting fee. Why? Because it’s the easiest way to make the numbers look good in the short term. Never mind that the people laid off were the ones actually keeping the business running. Boeing’s cost cutting obsession led to safety failures that destroyed its reputation. Tech giants cut operations and support roles to save money, then scramble to hire them back when things break. Reality Check: Companies that treat operations as expendable always regret it.
5. Executives Take Credit for Ops Wins, but Not the Work
When an operations overhaul leads to record profits, who gets recognition? Not the operations team. If a CEO implements a McKinsey-designed restructuring and it works, they’re a genius. If it fails? “Operations didn’t execute correctly.” operations teams do the work, executives take the credit, and the cycle repeats. Reality Check: Companies that elevate operations leaders become industry leaders.
Ops Leaders Need a Seat At the Table
The best companies treat operations like a competitive advantage, not a cost center. If leadership isn’t listening to their operations team, they’re making decisions blind. And if they’re listening to McKinsey instead, they’re setting themselves up for failure.
Root Cause Operations gives operational leaders a voice and integrates their ideas into the master plan. Let’s talk. Before your board starts asking uncomfortable questions.