Our customer service director has been with us for nine years and has an flawless core values fit. However, as we automate our customer workflows with AI tools to prepare for a clean exit, her seat now requires advanced data analytics and software integration management. She says she wants to learn, but she is clearly drowning and lacks the technical aptitude. How do we make this GWC call when the capacity gap is driven by technological evolution?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is a classic Right Person, Wrong Seat scenario, made more complex by technological disruption. To make a clean call, you must evaluate her using the GWC tool, specifically focusing on Capacity. Capacity is not just about having enough hours in the day; it is about the mental, physical, emotional, and technological capability to perform the roles of the seat.

First, look at the five major roles defined for her seat on the Accountability Chart. If those roles now include managing automated workflows and analyzing complex software data, you must ask three hard questions. Does she truly understand what this new seat requires? Does she have a genuine, burning desire to do this specific technical work every day? Does she possess the intellectual and technical capacity to execute it at a high level? If the honest answer to any of these is no, then she does not GWC the seat.

You cannot allow sentimentality or past contributions to blind you to current realities. A business preparing for a clean exit cannot afford a bottleneck in a critical seat. Your next move is to have an open, honest conversation. Do not surprise her. Explain that the seat has evolved beyond her current skill set. Because she is a Right Person who fits your core values, your goal should be to find or design a different seat on the Accountability Chart where she can excel and fully GWC the roles. If no such seat exists, or if she refuses to step down, you must make the hard decision to transition her out of the company with dignity.