kitchen toilet

A "kitchen toilet" is a slang term within organizational design describing a structural choice within an organization (shape, authority, accountability, etc...) that does not make sense. Kitchen toilets can only be explained by going back in time and understanding the path that produced the current outcome. The people who were there for the choices have accepted the odd choice because they were there for the journey and understand the constraints that produced it. A person joining the organization afterwards has the experience of walking in and asking "Why do you have a toilet in your kitchen?"

The new person might start tugging on the toilet because toilets in kitchens are generally bad ideas. They realize the toilet has a lot of associated plumbing tied into the kitchen that can only be seen when they try to rip it out. The person must decide if they want to take on the cost of removing the toilet to produce a more fundamentally sound kitchen, or get used to holding their nose and walking around the toilet while using the kitchen.

I just took over a new team, and it is just kitchen toilets everywhere. Lots of people promoted into roles that make no sense for what we need to accomplish now. Decision are parked far from where they are understood and create impact for no discernible reason. And it is top heavy with people who can neither lead nor do. These choices may have made sense at some point, but now I am going to have to tear down and rebuild the whole organization because it is so structurally flawed.