Burn the TPS Reports: Why Every Employee Must Think Like a CEO
Somewhere along the way, companies decided that IT, HR, and Finance were just “support functions.” Keep the lights on, spend as little as possible, and don’t break anything. Meanwhile, sales, marketing, and product get the resources, recognition, and strategic conversations. That’s a failure of leadership.
At 120VC, we know every team must drive measurable value. No exceptions. High-performance organizations don’t treat IT like a help desk or HR like a compliance department. They empower every function to lead, innovate, and impact the bottom line.
If you’ve seen Office Space, you know what happens when teams are buried in bureaucracy. Peter Gibbons wasn’t lazy. He was trapped in a system that valued TPS reports over outcomes. What he needed, and what IT, HR, and Finance need today, is clarity, purpose, and the authority to make an impact.
Kill the Cost Center Mentality—Own the Business Outcomes
The companies that thrive don’t treat IT like a help desk. They don’t treat HR like a compliance department. They don’t treat Finance like a budget cop.
Instead, they align every single team to three operational pillars:
The best companies make these non-negotiable.
Because when teams don’t connect their work to these pillars, you get what Peter Gibbons described best:
“My only real motivation is not to be hassled, that and the fear of losing my job.”
Kill the Cost Center Mentality, Own the Business Outcomes
IT, HR, Finance. You’re not a necessary evil. You’re not there to “support the business.” You are the business.
The problem isn’t that IT doesn’t want to lead. It’s that leadership hasn’t taught them how.
That changes now.
“Every project. Every meeting. Every budget decision. It either drives customer satisfaction, team member satisfaction, or profitability, or it’s waste. Period.”
Stop tolerating teams that just “keep things running.”Stop funding departments that can’t quantify their value.Stop measuring success by how little money you spend.
Want a thriving, high-performance company? Start treating IT, HR, and Finance like profit drivers.
Because if your teams are still fighting for budget scraps and justifying their existence instead of leading…congratulations. You’re running an Office Space reenactment.
What CEOs & Boards Get Wrong and How to Fix It
The CEO gets this. The Board gets this. But they don’t teach it. They don’t mandate it. They don’t make it part of the culture.
So while executives obsess over business outcomes, the rest of the org is drowning in busy work. Pointless meetings, endless reports, projects that don’t move the needle.
That’s on leadership.
If you want real change, here’s the playbook:
"Kill the cost center. Replace it with a culture of outcomes. Teach your people to think like you do, because they must. The three pillars aren’t a nice-to-have. They are the future of your company.
- J. ScottThe Office Space guys burned down Initech. We say, built it back better.
And if your team isn’t there yet?
Let’s get it there.
