A​ncient Myths for Modern Work

1. When People Become the System

At the Acropolis in Athens, six stone women stand on the porch of the Erechtheion, literally carrying the weight of the building on their heads. They've held this position for more than two thousand years, though most of the originals are now in a museum. Even marble only holds so long.

The metaphor is clear: every organization has its human Caryatids.

These are the employees or managers who, through sheer force of will, support structures that were never designed to be carried by people. Outdated approval processes that require someone to "know everyone." Legacy systems where one person knows the workarounds. Institutional knowledge that lives ​in someone's head​ instead of documented systems.

We celebrate these individuals as "pillars" of the organization, but that's precisely the problem. The ancient Caryatids were symbolize a connection between earthly and divine realms, but humans shouldn't be structural elements. When our most reliable people leave, get promoted, or simply burn out, what comes crashing down?

Systems shouldn't rely on people silently bearing weight. Leaders must ask what they're offloading onto individuals that should be re-engineered into processes, ​documentation​, or technology itself.

2. Dangerous Organizational Islands

Off the coast of Crete sits Spinalonga, a small island that served as one of Europe's last leper colonies. Nicknamed "the island of the living dead," people were sent there to battle illness in complete isolation. Today, it's a peaceful reminder of what happens when we ​cut people off​ from the core.

In many companies, ​frontline workers​ or remote teams feel a form of corporate Spinalonga: out of sight, out of mind. While trying to protect the system from disruption, we cut off vitality, insights, and dignity.

Organizational islands also often lack investment, attention, or connection to decision-makers.

Hybrid work makes this lesson more urgent. Distance can easily slip into disconnection, especially for teams that aren't naturally visible. Leaders must deliberately bring the "islands" back into view.

Which teams have you inadvertently quarantined? What insights are you missing from your organizational periphery?

3. Monuments to Half-Finished Vision

On Naxos, a massive marble doorway (the “Portara”) stands alone on a small peninsula. It was meant to be the entrance to an abandoned temple for Apollo, now a monument to possibility that ​never materialized​.

How many corporate Portaras have we built inside our companies?

Collaboration platforms launched without adoption strategies. ​Innovation labs​ that never scale beyond pilot. Digital transformations that create beautiful frameworks but no meaningful change. Change programs that produce elaborate ​governance structures​ but leave employees confused.

We're excellent at building grand entrances: the kickoff meetings, the vision statements, the budget approvals. The problem isn't our ability to start; it's our tendency to mistake the doorway for ​the destination​.

The Portara is stunning to look at, but useless to walk through.

When employees encounter our carefully constructed "portals"—new systems, processes, or cultural initiatives—do they find meaningful work and clear direction on the other side, or just another empty promise?

Don't build grand entrances that don't have meaningful destinations.

4. Complexity Becomes the Maze

At Knossos in Crete, my guide explained that the myth of the Minotaur shaped how we imagine labyrinths as an underground maze. In reality, the palace was the labyrinth: with 1000+ rooms and corridors. The monster wasn't trapped in a separate structure; it lived within the system.

Many companies already inhabit their labyrinth without realizing it.

The complexity is the org structure itself. Too many stakeholders in every decision. Too many approval layers for simple requests. Too many ​digital tools​ that don't integrate with each other. Too many acronyms to learn.

Employees don't get lost in some separate maze; they get lost in the very structure we've built to house our work. And like the mythical Minotaur, ​resistance to change​ thrashes around, growing stronger in the confusion.

Escaping the maze requires more than strength or good intentions.

In the myth, Ariadne's thread provided a simple line back to purpose. Whether it's a ​"North Star" vision​ or consistent communication norms, the principle is the same: clarity is the only way out.

For most leaders, that thread starts with radical transparency about how decisions actually ​get made​, not how the org chart says they do.

Closing Thought

The Greeks told stories to make sense of complexity, power, and human behavior. We're doing the same thing today with modern work, and creating narratives to explain forces bigger than any one organization.

Ancient sites remind us that systems naturally get heavy, islands get lonely, grand plans often stay unfinished, and complexity multiplies on its own.

Our job isn't to avoid these patterns but to see them coming.Then to design better paths forward.

Consider this an invitation to spot your own Caryatids, Spinalongas, Portaras, and Labyrinths—then ask yourself: which patterns are we perpetuating, and what would it take to design something better?