Heat moves through organisations in predictable patterns. These paths form not by intent, but by **habit, hierarchy and historical practice**.
Once you can see these pathways, you begin to understand: You were not “overreacting.” You were receiving redirected pressure.
How Heat Travels
Workplace heat follows four primary pathways. Each one is subtle, socially reinforced, and often misread as “normal workplace behaviour.”
The Four Conductivity Pathways
Downward Drift
- Pressure moves from leadership → to managers → to frontline staff
- No accountability accompanies the transfer
- You're asked to “sort it out” without authority to solve the root cause
Sideward Transfer
- Workload or emotional fallout “shared sideways” among peers
- Often framed as “teamwork” or “helping out”
- But the load is uneven, predictable, and identity-linked
Backward Deflection
- Heat flows away from those with institutional protection
- Accountability attempts are “bounced back” to the person naming the issue
- You end up managing the consequences of raising a concern
Cross-Role Loading
- You are expected to perform invisible emotional labour to protect a team
- Systems assume your patience, empathy or resilience
- Your job description quietly expands to include stabilising others
Why This Matters
Once pathways are visible, heat stops feeling personal — and starts feeling structural. This changes everything.
The next page introduces the **Absorption Imperative**: the organisational reflex that ensures heat always finds a home.
Pressure doesn’t move randomly. It follows pathways shaped long before you arrived.