Most operational problems aren’t systems problems. They’re people problems hiding as systems problems.
A founder I worked with learned this the hard way. He had a designer who was technically brilliant. Could build anything. But he was toxic. Rude to vendors, dismissive to colleagues, made people feel small in meetings.
The founder kept making excuses. Then three employees quit in six months.
There are two parts to getting this right. First, having the right people. Second, having them in the right seats.
Right people means character fit
Skills can be trained. Character is much harder to change. The problem is that when you’re hiring someone cold, character is hard to assess. They’re on their best behaviour in that interview.
Three ways to assess character when hiring. Hire through your network and let your team act as a recruiting filter. If hiring cold, ask a character reference, not just a skills reference. The question that reveals everything: “Would you want to work with this person again?” Use your company values as a filter and ask candidates which one resonates with them and why.
Right seats means role fit
Great people can struggle in the wrong role. A three-question filter helps sort this out. Do they get it, meaning do they understand what the role actually requires day to day. Do they want it, meaning are they genuinely motivated by this specific work. Do they have the capacity, meaning the time, skills, and bandwidth to do this well.
All three need to be true. If any one is missing, it’s a seat problem, not a people problem.
A quick exercise to try today
Write down each team member’s name. List your core values next to each name. Put a tick or cross for each value against each person. The patterns will be immediate.
The founder eventually let the designer go. It was painful. They lost short-term capability. Within two months, the team was healthier than it had been in years. People started collaborating again. New hires stayed longer.
He said it was the best decision he’d made in three years. He just wished he’d made it sooner.
Get the people right and everything else becomes easier. Get it wrong and no amount of systems will save you.
