The Axe in the Forest – When Systems Are Disrupted by the Wrong Tools

This morning, I visited a place that had recently undergone major changes. The company had been bought by another, and the effects were palpable. As I chatted with one of the staff members, I noticed that she looked different—there was something in her expression that suggested strain. When I asked how she was doing, she replied, “Really well.” But the way she said it made it abundantly clear that things weren’t well at all.

I recognised this as a very English response—a polite veneer masking deeper discomfort. She admitted that the changes were affecting everyone, and I could sense it in the air. The new management—the people who had come in—were not accessible to the existing staff. And as I listened, a phrase came to mind: Die Axt im Walde.

This German idiom, literally translating to “the axe in the forest,” is difficult to render in English. The closest equivalent might be “like a bull in a china shop,” but that doesn’t quite capture it. A bull in a china shop is clumsy, chaotic, even destructive, but the axe in the forest is something else entirely—it is a tool, a force of change that can be either necessary or devastating, depending on how it is used.

An axe can be useful in an ecosystem, clearing space for growth. But more often than not, when wielded without care, it disrupts rather than develops or empowers. In this case, it seemed as though the new management had entered with the force of an axe, making sweeping changes without understanding the delicate balance of the existing ecosystem.

I don’t have the answers here. I don’t know who is right, who is resisting, or whether the changes will ultimately be for the better or worse. What I do know is that I saw unhappy people, and I could feel the tension in the system. If we step back and look at this situation not through the lens of individuals—managers versus staff, old guard versus new leadership—but through the dynamics at play, we might start to make sense of it.

What happens between people in a system matters as much as the individuals themselves. If uncertainty and stress ripple through an organisation, it is worth asking: Is there a better way to communicate? A better way to grow? A better way to bridge the gap between those making decisions and those living with the consequences?

I don’t know the answer here. But I would love to know the metaphors that emerge for the different stakeholders—then, we could start to paint a clearer picture. What is clear, however, is that change, when introduced without understanding, can be as disruptive as the wrong tool in the wrong hands. The key is to approach transformation with awareness, empathy, and the humility to recognise that we may not fully understand the system we are trying to serve, but that awareness is crucial in doing so in the best possible way.