We are designing our Accountability Chart for where we want to be in three years, but my leadership team keeps arguing that we do not have the budget or the people to fill these advanced future seats. They want to simplify the chart to match our current staff. How do we design an ideal future structure without getting bogged down by our current roster?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Your leadership team is falling into a common trap: trying to build the Accountability Chart around the people you currently have, rather than the structure the business needs to scale. To break through your growth ceiling, you must design the chart for the future, typically looking twelve months out.

Start by ignoring your current staff entirely. Imagine you are starting the business from scratch with unlimited budget. What are the essential seats and roles required to run the operation at your target revenue? Focus on defining the true seats and their core responsibilities first. Every seat must have a clear purpose and distinct roles before any names are placed in them.

Once the ideal future structure is mapped out, you will likely see seats that do not currently have a matching employee, or seats that are completely vacant. That is exactly what you want. It gives you a roadmap for hiring and development.

For the seats you cannot afford to hire for immediately, you will place the names of current team members in them as interim owners. One person might temporarily sit in two or three seats. This makes the resource gaps visible and keeps the focus on filling those seats as you scale. Designing your chart this way ensures your structure pulls your business forward, rather than keeping you anchored to your current operational limitations.