“Okay” is one of the most expensive words in organisations. Nic Marks explains why.

Many organisations only become alert when things visibly go wrong.

When performance drops. When people burn out. When talent leaves. When teams begin to stall in obvious ways.

But according to Nic Marks, the problem often starts much earlier, and much more subtly.

With one word:

“okay.”

Because teams that say things are “okay” may sound stable at first. Not alarming. Not problematic. But according to Marks, that is exactly where the danger lies. In his data, teams that remain stuck in okay are often not energised, not truly engaged and not high performing. They are simply stuck.

And that is exactly why okay can become so expensive.

The most expensive word in business?

Nic Marks puts it sharply:

“Do you know what one of the most expensive words in business is? It’s okay.”

It is a striking line, precisely because okay sounds almost reassuring in many organisations. Not great, but not bad either. No crisis. No drama.

And yet that is exactly the problem.

Teams that stay stuck in okay are often not high performing. They are not necessarily visibly unhappy or openly in conflict either. They are simply flat. And once teams become flat, the energy needed for initiative, creativity and progress often starts to disappear.

Why “okay” is more dangerous than many leaders think

In the full interview, Marks makes clear that teams often get stuck in okay. And that this is anything but a neutral state.

“But okay is really flat. And teams get stuck in okay.”

That may sound like a nuance, but for leaders it is an important one. Many organisations mainly watch the extremes: are things going very well, or are they clearly going badly?

What sits in the middle often gets too little attention. Yet that is exactly where mediocrity can take hold. No real crisis, but no real progress either. No enthusiasm, but no open dissatisfaction. Just: things are okay.

And according to Marks, that is precisely where teams can remain stuck.

Only 20 percent move out of it naturally

Marks backs this up with data: only 20 percent of teams that are “okay” at one point in time are genuinely happy in the following quarter. The rest stay where they are.

That makes okay not just a feeling, but a strategic issue.

Because if teams do not bounce back into a better emotional state, performance starts to come under pressure over time. People become flatter, less creative and eventually more vulnerable to boredom, frustration or leaving.

“If you get stuck in okay, that’s not okay”

Marks almost turns it into a management law:

“If you get stuck in okay, that’s not okay.”

And then he adds a line that sticks:

“Because you’re going to be dead energetically.”

It is strong language, but language many leaders will recognise.

A team does not need to be visibly in trouble to lose energy. Sometimes it happens much more quietly. People still deliver, but without real energy. Meetings continue, but without sharpness. Work gets done, but without ownership. There is little open resistance, but also very little movement.

On the surface, that may seem manageable.

Under the surface, it costs an organisation a great deal.

Why leaders need to ask a second question

According to Marks, there is another issue hidden inside the word okay.

People also use it defensively. As a socially acceptable answer. As a way not to say too much.

“When we ask people how they are, people often say, okay. And sometimes that’s avoiding the question and sometimes it’s covering up. It’s masking something worse.”

That is why he says to senior leaders:

“Ask people again, are you really okay?”

That may be the most important leadership lesson in this fragment. Not to settle too quickly for the first safe answer. Not to assume that the absence of visible problems means things are going well. But to look more carefully. Listen more carefully. And above all, to learn the difference between no crisis and real energy.

This insight belongs to a bigger story about happiness at work

Anyone who read the earlier BrightVibes article on Nic Marks will know that he does not see happiness at work as a luxury, but as a serious driver of performance. In that article, Marks showed that happier teams are more likely to meet their targets, experience less turnover and face lower burnout rates.

Read also: Happiness at Work is not a luxury. It is one of the strongest drivers of performance.

This new insight about okay adds something important to that story.

Not only deeply unhappy teams create risk. Teams that remain too long in mediocrity also deserve attention.

In other words: a team does not need to be visibly failing to need attention. Sometimes okay is already reason enough to look more closely.

Nic Marks at The Big Happiness Congress

On April 14 in Amsterdam, Nic Marks will speak at The Big Happiness Congress, organised by Action for Happiness Netherlands.

Other speakers include Dr. Laurie Santos, Alex Nunn, Sven Rickli, Tulku Lobsang Rinpoche and Niek van den Adel.

For leaders, HR professionals and organisations that take culture, performance and sustainable energy seriously, Nic’s message is a sharp one:

not everything that looks okay is healthy.

Sometimes okay is the beginning of stagnation.

And that may be exactly why organisations should stop accepting that one word so quickly.

Join The Big Happiness Congress in Amsterdam on April 14 and discover how organisations can make Happiness at Work more concrete.