How Bad Decision Rooms Create Burnout, Groupthink, and Costly Mistakes
Week 3 of The Trust Tax Investigation
What happens when the people who see the problem stop saying anything about it?
They're still in the meeting.
They're still doing their jobs.
They may still be delivering.
But somewhere along the way, they learned that their perspective wasn't wanted, wasn't heard, or wasn't worth the effort it took to keep offering it.
As Kylee Ingram says in this episode:
"Once you stop speaking up, that's kind of when it's all over. You've checked out."
And that should matter to every leader.
This week on The Trust Tax Investigation, we're asking what role organizations play in creating the conditions where burnout grows.
Kylee brings us directly into one place where that can happen:
The decision room.
Who gets invited?
Who gets heard?
Whose information counts?
Who speaks first?
And whose perspective disappears before the decision ever gets made?
Kylee's work in decision science shows why the loudest or most senior person in the room isn't necessarily the person with the perspective the organization needs.
When organizations repeatedly rely on familiar voices and familiar ways of thinking, they don't just risk leaving people out.
They risk groupthink, blind spots, poorer decisions, reduced innovation, and disengagement.
And there's another cost.
When people are overloaded, Kylee explains, they tend to fall back on what's familiar and simple. That can further limit creativity and decision quality.
That's where this conversation becomes part of The Trust Tax Investigation.
Because burnout isn't simply about how much work someone has.
It's also about what happens when people repeatedly spend energy navigating systems that make it harder to do good work.
In this episode, you'll discover:
- Why the loudest or most senior person can unintentionally dominate a decision.
- How social, information, and capacity biases affect organizational decisions.
- Why cognitive diversity matters—not just demographic diversity.
- What happens to creativity and decision-making when people become overloaded.
- Why leaders should consider speaking last, rather than first.
- How better-designed decision rooms can increase buy-in across an organization.
- Why someone can physically remain in the room while psychologically checking out.
- The simple question every leader can ask before the next important decision: Who's missing?
The Trust Tax Investigation
Week 3 has widened our lens.
Burnout isn't simply an individual problem.
It's created through an interaction between people and the environments in which they're trying to succeed.
Sometimes the Trust Tax looks like doing more than your share.
Sometimes it looks like responsibility continually finding the same capable person.
And sometimes it looks like sitting in a room with something valuable to contribute—and eventually deciding it isn't worth speaking.
That costs the individual.
And it costs the organization.
Because when people stop contributing what they see, know, question, or understand, organizations aren't getting the full value of the people they've hired.
Kylee's message offers another possibility:
Don't just ask people to speak up. Design better rooms for them to speak into.
Rewrite Your Story
There's also a personal story underneath this conversation.
Maybe yours sounds like:
"I'm not senior enough to say anything."
"They've already made up their minds."
"It's easier if I just keep quiet."
"Speaking up isn't worth it anymore."
Those stories don't appear out of nowhere. Sometimes they're learned from the environments we've been working in.
But they don't have to define how we lead next.
That's why The Trust Tax Investigation and Rewrite Your Story belong together.
The investigation helps us recognize the patterns shaping how we work and lead.
Rewrite Your Story helps us decide what we want to do differently.
Join comedian, keynote speaker, and playwright Merit Kahn and me on October 15, 2026, at Walsh College in Troy, Michigan, for a full-day interactive leadership workshop followed by Merit's hilarious and inspiring one-woman show, Optimistic Personality Disorder™.
Because the story that helped create your success doesn't have to define how you lead next.
🎟️ Reserve your seat:
RewriteYourStoryEvent.com
Connect with Kylee Ingram
Kylee is the founder of Wizer, where she applies decision science to help organizations intentionally design better decision-making environments.
Kylee also mentions a free decision profile during our conversation that can help you understand the perspective you naturally bring into a decision room.
🌐 Wizer / Decision Profile: https://www.wizer.business/
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyleeingram/
Send us Fan Mail
Support the show
Learn More at https://unceilingzone.com
