We are updating our Accountability Chart to prepare for an AI-driven operating model, but our legacy operations director does not want to learn the new technology and is resisting the transition. She has been with us for eight years and fits our core values. How do we handle this Right Person, Wrong Seat situation?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is a classic Right Person, Wrong Seat dilemma. Your operations director is a Right Person because she matches your core values, but she is in the Wrong Seat because she does not GWC™ her evolving role. To scale your business and prepare for an exit, your operations seat must leverage automated tools and AI-driven workflows. If she cannot or will not adapt, she lacks the Capacity to perform the essential roles of the seat.

You cannot compromise on the requirements of the seat to accommodate her limitations. To resolve this, you must have an honest, direct conversation. First, see if there is another seat on the Accountability Chart that she GWCs and where her deep institutional knowledge is valuable, such as client retention or team training, provided that seat actually needs to exist.

If no such seat exists, or if she refuses to step down, you must make the difficult, unsentimental decision to transition her out of the company. Keeping a legacy employee in a seat they no longer GWC slows down your entire team, hurts morale, and lowers your valuation when potential buyers perform operational due diligence.