Episode 92: Call Out the Drift

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Drift doesn’t happen all at once — it sneaks in quietly, a degree at a time, until suddenly you’re far off course. In this episode of The Workplace Chameleon, Dr. Celina Peerman explores how leaders can spot and call out drift before it becomes a costly detour. She defines drift as the gradual, often unnoticed shift away from original goals, values, or priorities and shows how it creeps into projects, culture, and team energy through small, well-intentioned choices. You’ll hear why leaders often avoid naming drift — fearing it will sound like criticism, disrupt momentum, or reveal uncertainty — and why silence only delays the problem. With practical steps for noticing signals, naming them neutrally, and inviting curiosity instead of blame, Dr. Celina reframes drift checks as course corrections, not personal failings. She also offers ways to make drift checks a normal team habit, from quick alignment questions to mid-project reviews, and highlights how leaders who model curiosity create safer, stronger teams. This week’s challenge: in your next team conversation, ask one alignment question — “Are we still headed where we said we would go?” You might be surprised what surfaces, and how quickly you can realign.

For more leadership tools and resources, visit www.drcelinapeerman.com
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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to the Workplace Chameleon.
This is Dr Selina.
This is where we aim to explorehow we adapt, align and lead
with intention, even when thisworkplace is getting kind of
wild.
Even when this workplace isgetting kind of wild.
Today, I want to share with yousome ideas about something that

(00:29):
I see come up every day in mywork, potentially, and out with
clients.
It happens to all of us, andthe word I want you to consider
is drift D-R-I-F-T.
And no, I don't mean driftingoff during a long meeting,

(00:52):
although, let's be honest, we'veall been there.
I'm talking about the slow,almost invisible ways teams,
projects, projects andpriorities slip off course one
degree at a time.
No blow up, no obvious mistake,just drift the danger.

(01:14):
If you don't notice it early,you end up way off the mark.
Think about an airplane off themark.
Think about an airplane.
Some of you may not know thatwhen I was 20, I actually did my

(01:35):
private pilot's license.
And if you drift just onedegree off of takeoff, it
doesn't look like much at first,but the time right, you cross
any sort of the country, you canbe miles, hundreds of miles
even from where you're supposedto land.

(01:56):
And my two little Cedar Cessnaversus a major airline and a
large Boeing jet.
But it's all relative.
Think about it in the water,maybe you're not a flight person
, but you're a boat person.

(02:17):
Drift when we're not clear onwhere we're going and we're not
paying attention to the signals,we find ourselves somewhere we
didn't plan to be.
That's drift, and while it'salmost always unintentional, the
cost of ignoring it is high.

(02:38):
So what do I actually mean bydrift?
I think I want to define it forus and have us wrestle with it.
So here's my definition Driftis the gradual, often unnoticed
shift away from original goals,plans or values.

(03:00):
It doesn't happen all at once.
I do think it sneaks in throughsmall choices, little
adjustments or moments ofinattention.
Here are a few ways that I seeit pop up in our teams and
organizations.
A project slowly expands toinclude work that wasn't in the

(03:25):
original scope.
By the way, this is one of myfavorite concepts because once I
caught myself doing it, it wasso helpful to know what it's
called, and it's called scopecreep.
Don't do it.
Look it up.
Great concept.
And what I found out about itis when you try to be nice and

(03:46):
you go oh sure I could do that,oh sure I could do that, sure,
sure.
We can add that you end up inscope, creep outside of the
original parameters and nowyou've drifted and, depending on
how you do your work, you maynot be getting paid for any of
that extra.
Being helpful is one thing,running a good business is

(04:07):
another.
Okay, a few other things Idrifted.
Notice that I just explained ita little further.
Priorities shift quietly but noone updates the plan.
The why behind the work getsfuzzy and people start going
through the motions.
Meetings get longer but lessproductive because everyone's

(04:32):
busy but fewer things are movingforward and a company value,
like customer first, startsslipping because the team is
chasing speed instead of service.
Most of the time, drift is notcaused by laziness or sabotage.
It happens because people whoare trying to help, even when

(04:56):
circumstances change, or becausethe momentum of day-to-day
busyness pushes us off course.
What's the tricky part?
Drift often feels too small tomatter in the moment.
It's just one small adjustment,it's only a week late, it's not

(05:23):
that big of a deal.
But small shifts add up, leftunchecked.
They change the entire outcome.
Consider this If you looked atyour team right now, what would
you see?
The signs of a drift, as whenwould they be?

(05:48):
What would that look like?
A project, a process, maybeeven morale, engagement or
culture?
If drift is common, why don'twe call it out sooner?
I think there are a couple ofreasons that I see in my work.

(06:09):
We are afraid it will soundlike criticism.
Nobody wants to be thenitpicker.
We're unsure.
If we're right, maybe we're theones misunderstanding.
So we, you know, just shufflealong thinking oh, they must
know better.
We want to keep the peace.
Silence feels ill.

(06:32):
Let me try that again.
Got me All right.
Silence we're going to justleave that on the recording
Feels easier than potentiallystirring things up.
Or you know what?
We don't want to lose momentum.
Everyone's busy.
The project is moving.
Why pause to question it?

(06:54):
But here's the truth Silencedoesn't keep the peace, it just
delays the problem.
I think I feel like I need torepeat that one more time,
especially for me.
Silence doesn't keep the peace,it just delays the problem.
You've heard me say if youdon't name the real thing, you

(07:20):
solve the wrong problem.
Drift is easiest to fix, thoughwhen it's small.
By the time the signs areobvious.
The correction takes moreenergy, time and sometimes,
quite frankly, credibility.
I think, about projects wherewe're going to launch a new

(07:43):
service or a new project, and Isee examples come up where the
team is laser focused but slowlychanges creep in when other
departments start adding things.
Marketing wants extra features,operations adjust timelines,
leadership shifts priorities,but no one updates anybody.

(08:04):
And here we are six monthslater.
The product or the new serviceis late, over budget.
The team's burned out, notbecause they were not capable,
but because the drift wentunspoken for too long.
Squirrel alert what you don'tcall out early will cost you

(08:26):
more later.
Calling out the drift doesn'twants to check the compass.
Step one notice the signal.

(08:53):
Look for small signs.
Repeated missed deadlines,scope creep, shifts in tone, a
dip in enthusiasm.
Sometimes your gut tells youmore than your brain does.
Step two name it neutrally.
Use observations, notaccusations.
Try, I'm noticing we seem to bemoving in a slightly different

(09:14):
direction than we planned, or itlooks like our priorities have
shifted.
Step three invite curiosity.
Ask open-ended questions likewhat's contributing to this
shift?
Has something changed?
We should account for.
When you frame it withcuriosity, you take the sting

(09:40):
out of the conversation.
Take the sting out of theconversation.
You're not accusing anyone,you're checking the map together
.
No-transcript curiosity.

(10:12):
You know, and I also think aboutthe fact that the best leaders
don't just react to drift, theybuild drift checks into the
rhythm of their teams.
They quit questions in meetingsAre we still on track?
To make sure?
Mid-project reviews they're notjust task updates but they're
alignment checks.

(10:33):
Are we still heading where wesaid we would?
Or open the door for others?
Encourage your team to say Ithink we might be drifting, and
when they do, thank them.
They're helping the team, notslowing it down.
I've watched leaders do this.
Recently.

(10:56):
I saw one ask their teampausing halfway through a major
project if we keep going exactlyas we are right now, will we
end up where we wanted?
I love this practice becausesometimes the answer is yes.
Sometimes the pause revealsissues that saved weeks of

(11:20):
rework later Weeks.
How many of you love rework?
I've not met anybody who lovesdoing the same job over again
because it didn't work the firsttime.
He treated in this case, inthis project, drift checks like
pit stops on a race day Not adelay but an advantage.

(11:45):
I think there's a couple ofother definitions and ideas that
come to me in this materialthat I've been doing some
writing about.
I love the word alignment.
It just always speaks to me inthis material that I've been
doing some writing about.
I love the word alignment.
It just always speaks to meabout being consistent with the
original goals, values andintended outcomes.
Now, if they shift, we justneed to make sure they shift
together, which is why I oftenthink about this as a course

(12:08):
correction adjustments made tobring work back on track after
recognizing the drift.
I also used the word curiosityearlier, very intentionally,
because it is different thanjudgment.
Curiosity asks what's happeninghere.

(12:29):
Judgment asked who's at fault.
Here are a couple more teamreflection questions you could
borrow.
One where might we be driftingright now as a project team or
organization?
Two, what's one sign of driftwe've learned to catch early?

(12:59):
Three, how can we make driftchecks a normal, safe part of
our work?
Ah, drift does not fix itselfIf you notice it.
Name it, not with blame, but,as I've explored in this episode
, with curiosity and always care.
That's how you stop the smallshifts from becoming big detours

(13:24):
.
So here's your challenge forthis week.
In your next team discussion,ask one alignment question Are
we still headed where we said wewould go?
See what comes up?
You might be surprised, and Iknow you will be glad you asked.

(13:45):
Thank you for joining me onthis episode of the Workplace
Chameleon Remember chameleon.
Cells are uniquely designed toreflect the light around them.
They don't absorb it, theyreflect it back and make it all

(14:08):
work.
So if this episode got youthinking about your own projects
, share it with someone else.
That's your opportunity toreflect light back, to lead with
intention, to protect yourpriorities and, as always, keep
smashing those mental healthstigmas and learn something new

(14:30):
today.