I once had to pick poo out of my robot vacuum.
When I’m raising my kids, I clean up pee and poo. I clean the dishes, take the trash out, fix the toilet bowl.
When I started my company, I had to do everything. Sell. Code. Plan.
When I was a software engineer in the government, I was coding, but also doing the needy work—wiring proposals, writing emails, setting up meetings.
There’s nothing beneath me.
The only reason things get done by me, or not, is leverage.
Now, in my company, there are processes. There are people hired to do those things. It’s not that those tasks are beneath me, but there’s more leverage and output from the system if I work on something else. I still do the unsexy work from time to time. It helps me understand where the operational issues are, so I can redesign processes to unblock the team.
It’s the same at home. A helper deals with the laundry and cleaning so I can move to more valuable things, like playing with and teaching my kids. I still put away my own dishes and help organize things. Why? Because those are high-leverage tasks. I’m teaching my kids what personal responsibility looks like.
Who I need in my system are people who understand this principle.
If something important isn't getting done, I’ll do it. But it makes me think. Is the presence of someone else forcing me to work on low-leverage tasks? Is a part of the system failing?
This is how I expect people to work with me.
Work on the things that I have low leverage in and do them well. Show me you can manage the small things, and you’ll get the bigger things.
I don’t hire consultants. I hire people who get things done. People who create leverage, so the whole system wins.