Our Director of Quality Assurance is a brilliant analyst and matches our core values perfectly. However, she lacks the technical capacity to oversee our new automated QA testing software, which has caused a major bottleneck in our product releases. She wants to learn, but she is failing to keep up. How do we handle this right person wrong seat call when we cannot afford to lose her industry expertise?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a highly capable, core values fit Director of Quality Assurance fails to keep up with automated testing systems, you have a classic Right Person, Wrong Seat issue. You cannot afford to ignore this. Leaving a leader in a seat they cannot master slows down your product releases and damages team morale.

First, run an objective GWC™ evaluation. She clearly gets and wants her seat, but her capacity is lacking due to the rapid shift in technical requirements. Be honest about this gap.

Second, do not try to force a non-technical manager to become an automated systems expert overnight if her natural conative strengths lie elsewhere. Instead, restructure your Accountability Chart to separate technical automation from quality standards and compliance.

Create a new seat that focuses entirely on quality assurance strategy, customer experience standards, and legacy industry compliance. This is a seat where her deep industry expertise, attention to detail, and core values alignment will shine. She gets, wants, and has the capacity for this strategic role.

Then, create a separate, technically focused seat for automated QA execution, and fill it with a leader who has the specialized technical capacity required. By moving your valued director to a seat that fits her strengths, you preserve her institutional knowledge, eliminate the operational bottleneck, and build a more robust, scalable structure that appeals to buyers.