This glues my business together.

It’s September 2016.

We’re hustling to grow the bakery from nothing into something.

Six months of building the team from 3 to about 30 employees

And this point I still didn’t have any managers.

It meant that all roads still led back to me for most major decisions.

When the time came to appoint a few, naturally we began promoting from within.

We placed the brightest stars in charge of a small team and left them to it.

But shortly after, a few things happened…

Consistency slipped
Communication became difficult
And the lines of responsibility were blurry

So we began writing a ton of procedures and rules.

Rules for behaviour
Procedures for handling stock
And processes for onboarding clients

Except…

No one really followed them.

Most of the time people just ignored them claiming they were too busy, forgot, said they weren’t told about it, or listed any other excuse.

So what did we do?

Doubled down and made those dumb signs you see in workplaces telling people to do something obvious.

And you know what?!

That didn’t work either…
(surprise, surprise).

So, we recruited managers to enforce it!

People to force other people to do the things they were already supposed to do…

It was ridiculous.

But I see it happen over and over again in businesses.

As they grow, they add layers of complexity, documentation, rules, policies, processes and people to try to change behaviour.

They almost never work...

And the worst bit is, you’re stuck paying for it all.

So what do you do instead?

FIND YOUR FIGHTERS

Not the type of manager who rules with a ‘big stick’…

You want the ones who have the ear of those around them and are willing to fight the good fight.

When you get the right message to a fighter who can help integrate it, all sorts of magic happens.

In that case you tell one person, they tell another and soon it gains momentum until it becomes unstoppable.

You just have to be patient.

WHO ARE THEY?

Your fighters are people who share similar ideas and standards to you.

They’re the ones who are most likely to adopt ideas or implement positive change the fastest.

And the thing is, these people are often not in positions of authority.

They’re just happy fitting in and doing their thing.

But because of their high standards and willingness to call bullshit on bad work, they can be loved or hated within the organisation.

And that makes them easy to find!

HOW TO FIND THEM

Fighters are often misunderstood by the team which can put them at the centre of conflict.

But you and I know that not all conflict is bad.

It can be a sign that people are actually doing the hard work of cooperating.

Different people coming together to solve challenges can create friction.

Sometimes even resentment.

And those people who are resented might be the glue that holds cooperation together.

Often sitting at the intersection of two groups (ie managers and the team) and motivated by outcomes of cooperation and making good things happen.

Depending on the person, they can hold the power to orchestrate collaboration where neither group could before.

For that reason, I call them “The Glue”.

WHAT TO DO WITH THE GLUE

Instead of assigning them full command, give them a project.

It can be short or long, but give The Glue power, incentives and authority to succeed where you haven’t.

They’ll also need enough space to take the risk of interpreting rules, and use their judgment and intelligence to nudge the team towards a better outcome.

To reshape behaviour.

I’m not going to lie… It’s going to ruffle some feathers.

But back them.

Don’t punish their failure. Punish the failure to cooperate.

Connect the dots between what The Glue is doing and the eventual good outcome if we get there.

It’s your job to reward people who bring problems to the surface such as low standards, and punish those who don’t come together to help solve them.

It’s one of the biggest things I’ve learned building teams…

Changes happen through people. Not paperwork.

As your business gets more complex and you feel like you’ve got to create new layers, processes and systems, recognise that many can come at the cost of people’s autonomy and that can result in inefficiencies.

I’m not saying don’t document things or live by rules.

You must if you’re going to grow.

I’m saying that finding and empowering people to bring them to life is the key.

And that’s your job as a business owner.

I hope this helps.