Our VP of Operations clearly wants the seat and understands it, but she is consistently failing to complete her Rocks because she is constantly put in fire-fighting mode. How do we determine if this is a capacity issue inherent to the seat design or if she simply does not GWC the seat?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

To diagnose this objectively, you must separate the person from the seat and use the GWC™ framework as a diagnostic tool, focusing specifically on the capacity piece. Capacity is not just about physical time; it is also about mental and emotional bandwidth, and the structural design of the seat itself.

Start by looking at the seat design. Is the VP of Operations seat overloaded with too many conflicting roles? If she is expected to manage long-term strategic scaling while also handling daily customer escalations and warehouse logistics, the seat is poorly structured. No human has the capacity to succeed in a seat that mixes high-level strategy with intense, daily fire-fighting.

If the seat is designed correctly, look at her personal execution. Does she possess the organizational skills and discipline to delegate the low-value tasks and focus on her Rocks? If she loves the thrill of fire-fighting and secretly avoids the structured work of scaling, she lacks the capacity because her natural operating style does not align with the seat.

Use your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ to IDS® this issue. Look at her scorecard. If her daily metrics are green but her Rocks are always red, she is prioritizing the urgent over the important. If, after coaching and adjusting her support structure, she still cannot complete her Rocks, she does not have the capacity for this seat. You must then find someone who can manage the workload, or restructure the department before it impacts your enterprise value.