🚨 The Real Reason Pharma Is Struggling To Keep The Market Pace: Too Many Voices. Not Enough Deciders.

Updated: Oct 4

We talk a lot in pharma about challenges — tough regulations, rising R&D costs, and long timelines.

But let’s be honest:

The biggest thing holding us back is ourselves.

Not the science.

Not the regulators.

Not the market.

It's the way we’re structured — too many people involved, and too few willing to take real responsibility.

💼 Too Many Layers. Not Enough Accountability.

Good ideas die early in most pharma companies.

Why?

Because we’ve built huge, slow systems that make decision-making almost impossible.

Everyone’s involved — but no one actually decides.

This is not agility. It’s gridlock.

🧪 Smart Talent, Stuck in the System

Amazing scientists give up trying to push their ideas through.

Marketing teams with bold strategies, blocked for months.

Digital teams doing endless pilots with no scale.

It’s not that we don’t have the talent. We do.

It's that our system doesn’t let them move — because no one wants to be the one who says “I’ll take the lead.”

🛑 Who Can Say Yes?

Ask your team this:

If someone has a great idea, who can actually approve it?

If it takes 4 names, 3 decks, and a VP to “circle back,” then your org is designed to slow down, not speed up.

And in today’s world, that’s risky.

⚠️ What Needs to Change

Here’s what pharma companies are doing:

Cut the layers — Fewer approvals, more trust.
Change how we reward people — Celebrate smart risk, not safe routine.
Let small teams lead — Cross-functional, fast-moving, and accountable.
Stop dragging projects out — If it’s been in “pilot” for a year, kill it or launch it.
Make “no” the hard answer — Default to trying, not blocking.