Our co-founder's sister-in-law has successfully managed our manual purchasing and inventory seat for eight years. She is an exceptional core values fit, but we are upgrading our operations with an automated ERP system. She lacks the analytical capacity to run this high-tech setup and is visibly overwhelmed, yet our co-founder is terrified of family conflict if we move her. How do we resolve this GWC™ capacity gap objectively?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

You must separate personal relationships from the health of your organization. This starts by leaning on your Charter and its core pillar of Trust, which requires open, honest, and vulnerable communication. The company must always come first.

Run the GWC™ tool objectively. She gets the legacy version of the seat and wants to do a good job, but she lacks the technical and analytical Capacity to manage the automated ERP. A no on Capacity is a hard stop. Keeping her in a seat she cannot handle is actually cruel, as the constant stress will eventually break her and impact your weekly Scorecard.

Address the issue openly during a Same Page Meeting with your co-founder. Use the IDS® process to discuss the operational risk of leaving an unqualified person in a critical seat. Explain that keeping her there invites mediocrity and breeds resentment among the rest of the team.

Your path forward is clear. First, define the new ERP inventory seat on your Accountability Chart based on the structural needs of the business, ignoring her personal feelings. Next, look at your vacant seats. Is there another seat in the company where she is a perfect core values fit and passes GWC™ completely? If yes, transition her to that seat. If no, you must transition her out of the business with dignity and a generous severance. Protecting her feelings at the expense of your company's growth is a direct path to operational failure.