Succeed or Escalate, Part 2: Creating Cultures Where Everyone Acts

In every great organization I’ve been a part of, the most impactful people weren’t always the loudest or those with the most authority. They were the ones who noticed something wasn’t working and did something about it.

If you see something and say nothing, you’re not just walking past a problem — you’re setting a new standard for what’s acceptable. That idea speaks to a principle I return to often, especially when talking about building high-trust, high-accountability cultures:

No one is powerless in a healthy organization.

In part 1, Succeed or Escalate: Great Companies Have No Bystanders, the message was simple: In great organizations, people fix what they can or escalate what they can’t. There’s no third option. No one gets to be a bystander.

But there’s a second layer worth unpacking, and it’s why I’m writing this piece. Even when the right systems and structures are in place, some people still act as if they’re powerless. The truth is they’re not. They’re choosing not to act. And that choice (whether conscious or not) tells you everything about your culture, your systems, and your leadership.

So let's talk about what it really means to build a culture where silence isn’t an option — where everyone steps up, speaks up, and takes ownership.

When Systems Are In Place, But People Don't Engage

At Ninety, the companies we work with have two built-in spaces for raising issues: Weekly Team Meetings and 1-on-1s. These aren’t meant to be surface-level check-ins. They’re designed to raise, discuss, and resolve not just problems but also ideas and opportunities, whether they’re tactical, interpersonal, strategic, or otherwise. Anything that affects the company belongs in these conversations.

And yet, there are people who stay silent. Not because they don’t know better. But because discomfort, fear, or ambiguity keeps them on the sidelines, hesitant to speak up.

In those moments, silence isn’t neutral. It’s costly. Because when our people withhold observations, feedback, or concerns, they're delaying the conversations that could make things better — the conversations that need to happen. And in doing so, they stall everyone's progress.

Let me be clear: This isn’t a top-down problem, and it’s not a systems problem. It’s a culture problem, and it belongs to everyone. We fail together, and we succeed together.

When someone sees an issue and says nothing, they’re not just avoiding discomfort. They’re sending a message that says: “This isn’t mine to solve.” And when their teammates notice that lack of accountability, disengagement starts to spread. One person hesitates, then another. And slowly, dysfunction begins to look like the norm.

As leaders, we need to recognize signs of silence settling in, confront it, and reinforce what a high-trust culture actually demands.

Why People Stay Silent

Speaking up takes courage. It requires clarity, context, and confidence. But in a lot of organizations, the current culture doesn’t make it obvious that speaking up is both respected and part of the job.

When people aren’t sure if their input truly matters — or worse, they suspect it might backfire — they hesitate. And that hesitation often turns into silence. Even when they know they should speak up, they don’t.

That disengagement shows up in all kinds of ways:

• “I thought someone else would say something.”
• “I didn’t want to seem too negative.”
• “It’s not part of my job.”

But the truth is everyone is responsible for the whole, even if they only own a part. And the moment we normalize (and accept) checking out, we lower the standard for our entire organization.

If we start accepting silence, we lower the standard for the entire organization. Whether we mean to or not, we make it harder for the next person to engage. And over time, that silence becomes cultural.

So if we notice our people are seeing issues and not taking action, our job is to close that gap. That means making it undeniably clear that engagement isn’t just welcome, it’s required — it’s how we grow together and build trust.

What Engagement Looks Like

Agency isn’t something we as leaders can hand out. It’s something people have to claim. We can build all the right systems — regular meetings, clearly defined roles, safe spaces for feedback — but if our people don’t choose to use them, none of it matters.

Because great companies aren’t powered by process alone. They’re built on the everyday actions of people who step in, speak up, and take ownership.

That’s what engagement looks like. And when someone chooses not to engage, they’re making a statement, whether they realize it or not: “This isn’t my responsibility.”

But it is.

If something isn’t working — a role, a workload, a leader, a process, even the culture — we all have the same two options: succeed or escalate.

• Succeed: We can do the hard work of figuring it out. This means talking to leadership, working through the issue, asking for feedback, getting a coach, or trying new approaches.
• Escalate: We can bring the issue to someone who can help, using the structures already in place. It's important not to wait and hope someone else jumps in so we don't have to.

And if neither of those feels possible? That’s a different kind of issue — and a sign that something deeper in your culture needs to change.

Healthy organizations don’t fear failure — they plan for it. They expect challenges and create pathways to support their people through hard things. But those pathways only work if people engage.

As leaders, we can’t remove every obstacle. But we can reinforce what a high-trust culture demands: not perfection, but courage. The courage to name what’s not working, ask for help, and take the first step toward resolution.

Here are five ways you can reinforce the succeed or escalate principle at your organization:

1. Ensure the right systems are in place: Create clear, consistent forums for surfacing issues, like Weekly Team Meetings, 1-on-1s, and structured feedback loops. Make sure people know where and how to speak up.
2. Model the behavior: Don’t just tell people to bring issues forward — show them what it looks like. Let them see you work through hard things, escalate when needed, and follow through with integrity. Culture is built by example.
3. Reinforce in words and actions: Recognize those who choose to act and engage. Make it clear that speaking up is both valued and celebrated.
4. Eliminate the gray area where bystanders hide: Make the standard unmistakable: Accountability is shared. Every single team member is responsible for identifying problems and moving them toward resolution.
5. Remind your people what a high-trust culture actually demands: Not perfection, but courage. The courage to name what’s not working, to ask for help, and to always take the first step toward resolution.

Because if someone in your organization doesn’t feel they can do either — succeed or escalate — it’s a sign that something in your culture is off.

What Happens After Escalation Matters

Here’s the part we don’t talk about enough: Once someone does the hard work of escalating, the spotlight shifts to leadership. Depending on the issue, this could be department heads, your Senior Leadership Team, or you.

What we do with information that's escalated from our team members — how we respond, how quickly, how visibly — sends a message to our people that extends far beyond the person who spoke up.

If people see that escalation leads to meaningful action, they’ll keep engaging. But if they see it get ignored, dismissed, or punished (even subtly), they’ll learn a different lesson: Don’t bother. Don’t risk it. Don’t trust it. And that’s how courage gets replaced by silence.

This is one of the most important and often overlooked questions we need to ask ourselves as leaders:

What will I do when something escalates to me?

When our people escalate issues, it’s up to us to determine whether our culture moves forward or slides back.

The Standard We Set

The cultures we build don’t just reflect what we say as leaders. They reflect what we allow within our organizations.

When people stay quiet, when they step over problems or disengage, they’re not just avoiding conflict. They’re setting a new norm. And over time, those silences shape our company — who we are and what we tolerate.

But the opposite is also true.

When you build a culture where everyone understands they need to act or to escalate every time they encounter an issue, you build resilience, clarity, and trust. And when those are in place, success follows.

Succeed or escalate. Those are the options. Both take courage. But pretending there’s a third option — waiting, hoping, hiding — is how dysfunction settles in.

So here’s your invitation to put the right systems in place (and if they’re already there, use them), lead with courage and transparency, and ask your people to do the same.

That’s how we raise the standard. That’s how we build something great, together.