Despite internal failures and employees questioning why the outdated, aspirational model wasn't removed from public view, Spotify continued to leverage the hype. The vision of autonomous 'squads' was a powerful magnet for attracting talent, even if it didn't reflect the operational reality.

The need for a Solution Architect often signals a failure in organizational design. It's a workaround for teams not communicating effectively, a problem better solved by applying principles from frameworks like Team Topologies to foster cross-team collaboration directly.

At Spotify, when people moved teams, they often kept their original manager. This created a chaotic web of reporting lines, making it impossible to establish clear accountability, consistent performance management, or unified team direction, ultimately undermining the model.

Companies fail at collaboration due to behavioral issues, not a shortage of good ideas. When teams operate in silos, believing "I know better," and are not open to challenging themselves or embracing "crazy ideas," progress stalls. Breaking down these habitual, protective behaviors is essential for creating a fluid and truly innovative environment.

Before emulating a company like Spotify, leaders should examine its entire business. The Spotify model that underpays creators to achieve profitability reveals a culture that might not be worth replicating, regardless of its internal structure.

Principles from companies like Amazon cannot be simply copy-pasted. Success requires adapting the "right tool for the job" and recognizing that culture eats strategy. Without the right incentives, data quality, and low-politics environment, these frameworks are destined to fail.

Mandating new processes, like reducing meetings, is ineffective if the collective beliefs driving old behaviors (e.g., lack of trust) are not addressed. To make change stick, leaders must first surface, discuss, and realign the team's shared assumptions to support the new structure.

Culture isn't an abstract value statement. It's the sum of concrete behaviors you enforce, like fining partners for being late to meetings. These specific actions, not words, define your organization's true character and priorities.

The famed organizational design was merely an aspirational "wishlist" that Spotify never fully adopted. Companies copying it are chasing a fantasy primarily used for recruiting, not a proven operational model that the company itself ever ran on.