(Extracted from Scale by Jeff Hoffman and David Finkel)
When you scale based solely on hiring “key” people, you just create a new problem for yourself. You move the critical dependency from your shoulders to those of your key hires. What happens if you have an employee issue? What happens if a critical team member’s spouse is relocated, or someone gets hurt? If the only leg of your stool is “My people will handle it,” your stool will topple over the moment your people are not, for whatever reason, there to handle it.
Scaling Principle Two is about building on the stable, scalable, three-legged base of systems, team, and internal controls. Sure, you’ll still want great talent on your team, but you’ll also create stability and scalability by empowering your team with the structure (i.e., systems and controls) they need to produce more, better, and faster for your company. Scaling on the stable base of systems, team, and controls means that your business can handle the loss of a key team member.