My business partner wants to create a new hybrid business development and product design seat specifically tailored to his son's unique talents, arguing it is the only way to retain him before our exit. How do we enforce the principle of structure before people when family dynamics and talent retention are at stake?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Creating custom hybrid seats to accommodate specific individuals is one of the fastest ways to destroy organizational clarity and tank your company valuation before an exit. In EOS, we strictly enforce the rule of structure before people.

Your Accountability Chart must be designed to achieve the company's long-term vision, not to appease family members or retain specific personalities. When you design a seat around a person's unique mix of skills and family status, you create a structure that is impossible to manage, measure, or eventually replace when you exit.

First, take the names off the chart. Look at your business needs over the next twelve months. Does your company actually need a combined business development and product design seat? The answer is almost certainly no, because those two functions require entirely different skill sets and focus.

Keep the seats separate on the Accountability Chart. Define the roles for the business development seat and the product design seat objectively.

Once the structure is locked, run your partner's son through GWC for each seat individually. If he gets, wants, and has the capacity for one of those seats, put him in it. If he does not GWC either seat, he cannot hold them. Appeasing family at the expense of your structure sends a toxic message to your team.