Systems
The repeatable structures that let an organization run without depending on any single person.
A system is anything a company does the same way twice. Great operators are people who see systems where others see chaos, and then build the smallest system that solves the problem.
How exceptional operators approach systems.
- 01What is the one process that, if it broke tomorrow, would stop the whole company?
- 02Where do we keep making the same mistake, and does anyone own preventing it?
- 03What is the smallest system that would solve this problem?
- 04Who trains new people on this, and have they trained anyone in the last year?
- 01Every new hire's onboarding is different.
- 02Institutional knowledge lives in one person's head.
- 03You keep re-solving problems you have already solved.
- 04Your team asks the same question five different ways.
- 01Document one recurring process this month, even badly. Bad documentation beats none.
- 02Assign an owner to your five most important recurring processes.
- 03Kill one process that no one can defend.
Conversations on systems
The Second-Generation Operator's Playbook for Not Breaking What Works
A conversation on succession, patience, and why the shop floor is the only spreadsheet that tells the whole truth.
Buying a Company That Almost Failed, and What the Field Told Him
A conversation on turnaround, trust, and why the estimator is the CEO of the job.
The Independent Doctor Who Turned Down Three Health Systems
A conversation on independence, partnership design, and why compensation is culture.
Bootstrapping to $28M ARR Without Selling a Single Share
A conversation on pricing, apprentice hiring, and why boring software wins boring markets.
Operators known for systems
Second-generation manufacturing operator running a 90-person precision machining shop she inherited at 34.
Third-generation independent auto shop owner who's tripled revenue while cutting hours.
Bought a struggling GC out of a family estate; rebuilt it into a $60M regional commercial builder.
Bootstrapped a vertical SaaS company to $28M ARR without outside capital.
Managing partner of a 45-person accounting firm known for one of the healthiest cultures in the profession.
Fourth-generation row-crop farmer who runs 4,200 acres with 5 full-time employees and a spreadsheet older than his son.
Built a 22-provider independent primary care group refusing to sell to health systems.
