Make It Easy to Do the Right Thing

Why leaders should design environments before blaming people.

When people consistently aren't doing what's needed, most leaders do the same thing: repeat the instruction louder.

But the problem is rarely that people didn't hear you.

More often, something in the environment is making the wrong behaviour easier than the right one. And until that changes, no amount of authority, repetition, or frustration will fix it.

One experience early in my career taught me this lesson in a way I've never forgotten — and it's shaped how I approach leadership ever since.

The Setup

I was in Lagos, Nigeria, working as a maritime security consultant on a cargo ship waiting in port. The threat was real — piracy in Nigerian waters was constant, and the consequences of a breach were serious. Hostage-taking. Violence. Loss of life.

My job was to keep the crew and the ship safe.

The security team assigned to me was a group of four armed Nigerian marine police officers. I wasn't armed — Nigerian law prohibited it within territorial waters. Previously, I'd worked with teams of former commandos where trust was automatic. This was different. I didn't know these men, their training, or how they'd respond under pressure.

When Instructions Stop Working

The watch routine was simple. Three hours on, nine hours off. Position: the bridge wing — the highest point of the ship with the best visibility in every direction.

Every time I checked during the day, the bridge wing was empty.

Every time, whoever was on watch was sitting around the back of the ship on the staircase. Out of view. Unable to see anything. Completely ineffective.

I addressed it directly. More than once. The captain raised it too. Clear instructions. Clear expectations.

It made no difference.

Most leaders have experienced something like this. You've explained what's needed. You've been clear. And people still aren't doing it. The instinct is to push harder, repeat louder, or escalate.

But repeating the same instruction and expecting a different result isn't leadership. It's frustration dressed up as authority.

Check Your Assumptions First

I ran through the usual conclusions in my head.

Are they lazy? Do they not respect me? Are they deliberately ignoring instructions? Are they compromised?

When you're responsible for people's safety and the risk is real, your thinking narrows fast. You default to blame because blame feels like control.

But blame doesn't change behaviour. Understanding does.

So I stopped asking "why won't they listen?" and started asking "why is the staircase more attractive than the bridge wing?"

Environment Shapes Behaviour More Than Intention

The answer was painfully simple.

The staircase had shade. And somewhere to sit.

The bridge wing had neither.

In the heat of Lagos, standing exposed on a metal platform for three hours with no shade and nowhere to rest wasn't sustainable. Sitting on the bridge wing wasn't allowed — it was seen as lazy. So they moved to where they could sit in the shade.

It wasn't defiance. It wasn't laziness. It wasn't disrespect.

The environment was pulling them toward the wrong behaviour, and no amount of instruction was going to overcome that permanently.

The Vulnerable Conversation

The solution was obvious once I saw the real problem. But getting there required something uncomfortable.

I had to go to the captain and be honest. I had to explain that despite clear and repeated instructions, the watch wasn't being maintained — and that I believed the issue wasn't the men, but the setup.

That's a difficult conversation when someone is trusting you with the safety of their ship. You're essentially saying "my authority alone hasn't fixed this." But pretending otherwise would have been more dangerous than being honest.

I explained the situation, gave him my assessment, and offered a solution: get the engineers to build a seated position with shade on each bridge wing.

He agreed immediately. Thanked me for thinking about it properly. The engineers built it.

From that point, the watch was maintained. Not because the men changed. Because the environment did.

How This Applies Beyond a Ship in Lagos

This experience shaped how I approach leadership today. Before I look at the people, I look at what's around them.

If people consistently aren't doing what's needed, the first question shouldn't be "what's wrong with them?" It should be "what's making the right thing hard to do?"

In business, when teams aren't following a process — is the process designed for the people using it, or for the person who wrote it?

When employees aren't engaged — is the environment giving them a reason to be?

When communication keeps breaking down — have you actually made it easy for people to communicate, or are there barriers nobody has addressed?

When standards slip — are the conditions supporting those standards, or quietly working against them?

Design for the Behaviour You Want

I could have shouted louder on that bridge wing. I could have escalated. I could have reported the officers and requested replacements.

And none of it would have changed the fact that standing in 40-degree heat with no shade for three hours was unsustainable.

The leadership lesson is simple:

Design the environment for the behaviour you want. Remove the friction that pulls people toward the behaviour you don't.

And sometimes, getting there requires honesty, vulnerability, and the willingness to admit that the current approach isn't working — even when you're the one responsible for it.

That takes more courage than raising your voice ever will.