Work Frustrations: A Source of Innovation!

Pfff… know what’s so frustrating about how things are going?

It irritates me so much how we’re working now, you know that?

What a struggle to get this organized properly.

Do you recognize these kinds of feelings, and maybe even comments you make out loud? At lunch with trusted colleagues?

I certainly had things that frustrated me when I still worked at large organizations. But even now, when my WiFi glitches, two appointments are double-booked, and that sort of thing. Frustrations where I can sometimes do something about it, and sometimes they’re beyond my control—or so I think.

I quickly sort out what I can influence. But letting go of frustrations beyond my sphere of influence is harder for me.

Some frustrations, or even irritations, have become such habits that I hardly notice them anymore. I automatically work around them or through them…

If someone asked you what frustrates you—say, your manager—those last ones might not even come to mind right away because you’re so used to them. When you hear them from colleagues, you probably recognize some of their frustrations as your own too.

Frustrations at work come in all shapes and sizes, and you sometimes even need to help employees bring them to the table properly. Work frustrations rarely have one cause; they usually stem from a combination of workload, lack of influence, poor communication, and a mismatch between people, work, and organizational culture.

Both the content of the work, leadership behavior, and personal factors play a role.

Which frustrations can we categorize?

Content of the work

High workload, unrealistic deadlines, and “always in a rush” quickly create a feeling of being hounded and failing.

Unclear tasks, conflicting orders, and role ambiguity cause irritation and the sense that you can never do it right.

Work that doesn’t match education, talents, or skill level (mismatch) undermines motivation and leads to frustration or even dropout over time.

Management and leadership

Micromanagement, a control culture, and lack of trust erode autonomy and make people cynical quickly.

Insufficient support or availability from managers amplifies stress, especially with high task demands.

Uncertainty about job, future, or reorganizations breeds unrest and frustration, especially if communication about it is vague.

Communication and collaboration

Poor or late communication is a major source of conflicts and irritations between colleagues and departments.

Unclear expectations about performance and responsibilities create ongoing tension in collaboration.

Behavior of “difficult” colleagues (rivalry, gossip, lack of ownership) can drain a lot of energy.

Values, meaning, and development

A gap between personal values and the organization’s values or choices (e.g., focus on production vs. quality) creates inner conflict.

Lack of challenge, development opportunities, or recognition leads to boredom, cynicism, and feeling stuck.

Lack of appreciation or being heard in decisions erodes the sense of usefulness and meaning.

Personal and private factors

An imbalanced work-life balance, chronic overwork, or always being “on” increases irritation and lowers resilience.

Stressful home or family situations color how someone experiences work and can amplify workplace frustrations.

Personal perfectionism, high self-standards, or fear of failure can make workload and conflicts feel extra heavy.

Chronic work frustration leads to ongoing feelings of irritation and anger, where you explode more quickly over small things and cynicism or bitterness takes over. At the same time, a deep sense of powerlessness and helplessness grows, as it seems like nothing you do or say really matters.

This can lead to gloominess, loss of pleasure in work, an empty or “drained” feeling, and sometimes even depressive symptoms, accompanied by persistent restlessness from ruminating, feeling hounded, constantly “on,” and difficulty letting go of work.

Monthly—or worse, annual—surveys with scores on various topics to measure satisfaction, let alone engagement, don’t help much. You want to be able to tell your story in your own words, know if others see it the same way, and think along about solutions. People aren’t wired to score a list of questions and then hear nothing back. Another frustration, by the way…

And now?

Frustration is a theme that requires attention and time. It shows that as a leader, HR, or OR, it’s meaningful to understand what’s going on and what can be done about it.

Here are some open questions to get started:

What frustrates you most in your daily work?

When did you last feel mild irritation or tension during your workday, and why?

Are there rules or work practices that unnecessarily cost you time, and what would you like to change?

Do you feel you have enough influence on decisions affecting your work?

What support do you miss most from your manager or team?

Are there moments when you think, “This could be done differently,” and what exactly?

How do you experience the balance between your tasks and available time?

What small change would immediately make your work lighter?

Have you felt more hounded or “on” lately, even outside work hours?

When did you last have less desire for a meeting or task, and why?

What still gives you pleasure in your work, and what no longer does?

Do you ever ruminate about work at home, and about what?

Do small setbacks hit harder than before?

How have you been sleeping lately, and does work affect it?

Do you feel physically more tired than before, and do you link it to work?

Are you making more mistakes or have less overview, and what do you think causes it?

Are you taking less initiative than you’d like, and why?

What would you advise a colleague experiencing similar frustrations?

If you could improve one thing in the organization or team to reduce frustration, what would it be?

What do you need to feel more engaged and energized in your work?

The flip side of frustration is that it can be a source of innovation—especially when employees have already tried to solve it themselves and explored alternatives.

Work frustration doesn’t have to be a dead end; it’s often the other side of the coin, a powerful source of renewal and change. When employees systematically experience discomfort from inefficient rules, lack of influence, or a gap between expectations and reality, that tension can spark action. Think better processes, new ways of working, new services, or even new forms of co-determination. Innovation can also mean stopping outdated ways of working, products, or even leadership styles that no longer suffice.

Research suggests that about 70% of successful startups and product innovations stem from personal frustration with the status quo. By surfacing frustration early with open questions, you channel that energy and collective intelligence into constructive solutions instead of turnover.

How do you get started?

With our dialogue solution, you immediately select your open questions, employees respond in their own words, at their own time. Then they build on each other’s answers: what do they recognize too, what not? And: what can we do with it or about it?

This gets people moving. With the results, you can hold follow-up dialogues to develop solutions, planning, and monitor/steer execution. Understanding frustrations, resolving them, eliminating them, and innovating becomes everyone’s business.

The two unique dialogue rounds—born from the frustration with regular surveys—yield higher participation and more reliable insights. Meetings are expensive, exclusive, and hindered by groupthink and noise. Surveys block employees' mutual learning, reinforcing them in their own answers only, and fail to reveal what gets the most support and recognition.