I was having lunch with an executive from a mid-sized tech company here in Austin, and the conversation quickly turned to his work. It had been about six months since we last spoke, and I was eager to hear about the progress on a new product that was supposedly close to launching. However, when I asked, he simply shrugged and said, “It’s still imminent.”
As he started recounting the events of the past few months, we both slowly came to a realization—nothing had really progressed. The company was making money, but the big milestones hadn’t been hit. The employees who were dissatisfied were still grumbling, the underperformers were still allowed to drain energy from the team, and the big successes were mostly tied to the failures of their competition, not to any groundbreaking achievements of their own.
It was as though the entire company was in a state of corporate zombification. The pay was decent, the workplace wasn’t toxic, and most people got along, but the spark, the drive for excellence, was missing. They were walking through their daily routines like zombies—kinda happy but lacking inspiration and motivation. It got me thinking: How many corporate zombies are out there? What turns people into corporate zombies, and more importantly, is there a way to escape this fate?
As the conversation continued, he admitted that the company had stopped hiring due to missed financial targets, but it was more of a relief than a problem. Hiring was hard anyway, and the freeze meant fewer headaches for leadership. Even though this company wasn’t failing, it was just... stuck.
Sure, we can point to lack of purpose as a core issue—after all, it’s easy to be motivated when you’re building spaceships to Mars. But I’ve seen companies do mundane things and still be energized, just as I’ve seen companies working on world-changing technologies suffer from zombieism. So, what's at the root of this?
I think there are multiple causes, but the cure is rare:
- Purpose is not a thing. It’s barely mentioned, except at awkward company meetings.
- Low performers and detractors are tolerated. They sap energy and slow everyone down.
- Rehashing past failures. Instead of learning and moving forward, failure becomes a constant conversation.
- Leadership doesn't show up. I once had a boss who said, “You can always find a valid reason not to be with your team—don’t do it.” If leadership is working remotely in a hybrid work culture, they need to be 100% in the office to remain accessible.
- New initiatives are dropped too easily. The moment someone tries to shake off their zombie status and push something forward, it gets quietly shelved due to the never-ending “alligators” to fight.
As I listened, he asked me, “So, how do you fight corporate zombies?” I paused for a second and said, “Honestly? Find a place where zombies aren’t allowed.” Because once a company falls into this pattern, it takes a dynamic, fearless leader—the kind who is rare—to pull them out.
In the end, the corporate zombie effect is real. It's pervasive, and once it's baked into the culture, it's incredibly hard to reverse. However, for those of us who recognize it early, we can choose to find environments that inspire, challenge, and refuse to let zombieism take hold.