At the start of the 2018 baseball season you might not have believed it when you saw a record number of games snowed out across the Midwest. The Seattle Mariners got off to a decent start is and that’s pretty good when you consider four starters (all proven good hitters) were each on the disabled list for 10 days or more.
They’re winning, and hitting well, because they’re lineup has depth. And depth is something too many businesses ignore. Yes, a lot of owners’ love being in control, but it doesn’t add value.
Maybe I’m sensitive to this because recently I’ve run into a lot of businesses that sound great until you find out what the owner does, which often is way too much. One was described by his number two as, “a very active president” but it’s another that deserves mentioning.
When the owner said he could only be reached at 8:00 pm or later it caught my attention. He has what appears to be a very successful business, but my comment upon learning more was, “He has a high-paying, long-hours job” and the business has a dependency, which is him.
During the day he visited job sites, ran a machine, met customers, etc. At night (8-11 pm he said) he did bids, bookkeeping, and other office work. Yes, he made good money but how could someone replace him? No sane buyer would pay for the company based on the current profits knowing they’ll have to hire a full-time employee to replace some of what the seller does.
The point of business is to have people below your pay grade do work you shouldn’t be doing. As they grow and get experience they should delegate the same way to others. This is what’s called depth, not a dependency.
“Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?” Novelist Lucy Maud
