Corporatology 002: The Architecture of a Cage

When order replaces purpose, people shrink to fit into corporate boxes.

“The systems you build will either support love or suppress it.” — Marcus Buckingham, Love + Work

The Caged Bird

Corporate structure was meant to bring clarity — but without soul, it becomes confinement. My own cage was ornate, padded with colorful cushions and poofs, pretty embroidered pillows, swirly candies, and the cutest little teapot for tea time. But it was still a cage, wasn't it?

The obsession with org charts, policy binders, and polished decks turns leaders into keepers of cages rather than stewards of vision. And here’s the kicker: I didn’t just live in mine — I zhuzhed that cage up within an inch of its life. I became a Master Gatekeeper, Keeper of Keys… but let’s be honest, nowhere near as noble as Hagrid.

The System starts with control and calls it accountability. It builds ladders and forgets why they were built - take it offline, circle back, table that for Q4thatnevercomes. It rewards the rule followers and silences the wanderers. The dreamers learn to translate vision into PowerPoint slides, and the brave learn to edit themselves. Ouch.

But here’s the thing: accountability is good. Holy, even.
It’s meant to lift people, not pin them.
Real accountability protects purpose and people.
Control protects The System.
One says, “I’m with you.”
The other says, “I’m watching you.”
I look back and cringe, wondering if sometimes I confused the two.

Sometimes I was the one tightening the bars.
Maybe not intentionally, but for sure undeniably.
In my effort to bring clarity, I contributed to the glitter-bombed cage, bar by bar —
building a structure that kept people safe but also kept them small.
I meant well… but good intentions can still form filigree walls.

Paul said, “Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” (1 Timothy 1:15)
He wasn’t being dramatic; he was confessing the truth - that the systems he upheld, the rules he enforced, and the structures he defended, harmed the very people God loved.
His honesty didn’t disqualify him.
It positioned him.
It made room for grace to do what systems never can: transform the heart.

I read that now and, with painful clarity, recognize myself.
I wasn’t just living in a cage — I was shaping others inside it.
Do sit down. Join me for a cup of tea.
And admitting that became the doorway out.

Structure without soul produces compliance, not conviction. It kills the whisper of calling and replaces it with checklists. It mistakes stillness for laziness, curiosity for rebellion, and order for excellence. The great irony is that it began with good intent — to make work easier, fairer, clearer.

But the more we refined The System, the less room it left for The Spirit. And in the name of control, we lost creation. I lost creation.

Because holy work still needs spreadsheets. But spreadsheets without The Spirit are just hubbub.

Field Note 002

This symptom wasn’t just something that happened to me.
I carried it. I spread it.

I disconnected long before anything collapsed—just a slow, dull slipping... seated properly on a poof. When the integration work started, I built every document like it was gospel: workflows, who does what, when things should happen, how it all connects. It looked airtight. Beautiful, even. My well-constructed masterpiece [of confinement].

But the green light never came.
The structure just… sat there.
And something in me sat down with it.

That was the moment I realized I couldn’t do my job—not with integrity, not with joy, not a speck of excellence, nothing resembling the way God wired me. I wasn’t incapable; I was caged.

Underneath it all was fear—that my work didn’t matter, that maybe I didn’t know what I was doing, that rejection wasn’t coming someday… it was here now, lock and key.

I didn’t crack the cage.
The cage cracked me.

And when the structure finally collapsed—the one I trusted, the one I helped reinforce—it took my breath, my certainty, and all my false security with it.
But in the rubble, there was clarity I couldn’t ignore.

A whisper: “You weren’t living. You were surviving.”

And He wasn’t punishing me. He was rescuing me.

Reconcile the Expense

• Only 23% of employees worldwide are engaged; the top reason is bureaucracy and unclear purpose. (Gallup 2023)
• Excessive process layers reduce innovation by up to 30%. (Harvard Business Review 2023)
• “Rules and routines become rituals of conformity when leaders mistake consistency for clarity.” Adam Grant
• Lean, principle-based structures outperform peers by 25% in employee trust scores. (McKinsey 2022)

When Systems Learn to Breathe Again

A Checklist for Escaping (and Not Rebuilding) the Cage

⬜ 1. Put Purpose Back at the Center

“Write the vision; make it plain.” — Habakkuk 2:2
Count the full cost. Ask why before how. Purpose before process.

⬜ 2. Invite the Holy Spirit Into Your Structure

“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit.” — Zechariah 4:6
Let Him breathe on anything that’s become mechanical.

⬜ 3. Build With People in Mind, Not Perfection

“Carry each other’s burdens.” — Galatians 6:2
Every system should help people flourish, not shrink.

⬜ 4. Make Policies Protective, Not Punitive

“Mercy triumphs over judgment.” — James 2:13
Rules exist to create safety and clarity — not fear.

⬜ 5. Simplify Anything Built From Fear

“Perfect love drives out fear.” — 1 John 4:18
Perfectionism, over-documentation, micromanagement — uproot the fear underneath.

⬜ 6. Trade Control for Curiosity

“Let the wise listen and add to their learning.” — Proverbs 1:5
Ask questions. Seek understanding. Let curiosity replace rigidity.

⬜ 7. Restore Relationship Before Process

“Encourage one another and build each other up.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Reconnect. Re-humanize the work. Go back to the bullpen.

⬜ 8. Hold Structure With Open Hands

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” — Proverbs 16:9
Let God show you what to keep, what to prune, and what to release.

⬜ 9. Build Rhythms, Not Cages

“For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” — Matthew 11:30
Create systems that breathe, flex, and support real life — not systems that trap it.

⬜ 10. Recommit to Calling Over Control

“He who calls you is faithful; He will do it.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:24
Return to the work God actually asked you to carry — nothing more.

Lessons Learned

I’ve had to face the stonecoldugly truth that I didn’t just get caught in the system—I carried parts of it into my own leadership; corporate masonry, as it were. Accountability and repeatable processes are vital to an organization's health, sure - of course - brilliant - yes! I just didn’t realize how often I held my team to my standards instead of the ones that actually set them free. My brick-by-brick structure gave them clarity, but it also crammed them into too-small boxes. I can see now how some of them must have felt suffocated — trying to read my mind, match my pace, fit into a “me-shaped box” that they were never meant to wear.

Sometimes and annoyingly so, I was a walking contradiction - the one who confronts didn't confront, the one who speaks up stayed quiet. I enforced hours and optics when what really mattered was output and well-being. I worshipped excellence, mistaking rigidity for progressive leadership. And underneath all of it wasn’t malice — it was my own [unreasonably] high standards, the ones I had lived under for so long that I didn’t recognize the weight of them on others.

Yet, even still - the Lord, in His kindness, is showing me this fault
without shaming me. He exposed it so He could heal it.
He let the cage collapse so I could learn how to build differently —
lighter, more human, and absolutely Spirit-led.

And I’m learning: structure can still be holy,
but only if people can breathe inside it.

Internal Review

1. Where have I built walls when God was inviting me into trust instead?

2. Who around me needs more gentleness or space than I’ve been giving?

3. What expectations am I carrying (or placing on others) that the Lord never asked for?

4. Where has my structure started to silence the Father's leading?

5. What could breathe again if I loosened my grip?

Action Items

“Teach me Your ways, Lord, that I may rely on Your faithfulness.” — Psalm 86:11

This week, take one system, habit, or expectation you’ve been holding tightly and place it before Jesus with open hands. Pray, “Lord, show me where this has lost its soul,” and listen for His nudge — does it need to soften, change, or be released entirely? Then take one small, obedient step toward gentleness or clarity: loosen a rule, restore a conversation, rewrite something with more humanity, or choose presence over pressure. Nothing big. Nothing heroic. Just one faithful move in the direction of freedom. Let Jesus teach you where structure ends... His breath begins. 🤍