When the Bottleneck Is Human: diagnosing people constraints.
Chapter 10 · “When the Bottleneck Is Human” · by Vinay Pasricha
What should you do when a person is the constraint?
Chapter 10 treats a human bottleneck as a diagnosis problem first. “The person is not good enough” is not a diagnosis. The chapter separates five causes: a skill deficit, a mismatch between role and capability, unclear expectations, misaligned incentives, and a lack of discipline in someone who has the capability.
Each has its own response. A skill deficit calls for training, mentoring or, where the skill cannot be developed, replacement. A role mismatch calls for reassignment, restructuring the role, or replacement. Unclear expectations call for clarity about what is expected, by when, at what quality and with what measures; often that alone produces improvement. Misaligned incentives call for changing what the person is rewarded for. Lack of discipline calls for accountability through clear expectations, measurement, feedback and consequences, which the book calls the hardest type to address.
Human constraints take sustained engagement and often several cycles. The chapter warns against both extremes: removing people quickly without investment builds a low-trust culture, while tolerating non-performance in the name of loyalty or kindness is an abdication of the responsibility to build strong systems. And if human constraints keep recurring, the organisation should ask whether its hiring, development or management systems are the real, structural constraint.
When people constraints keep pointing back to hiring, that is the subject of Organizational Frequency. When the missing piece is a senior leader, Vinay’s leadership search practice starts there.
But tolerating non-performance is not loyal.
— Chapter 10, “When the Bottleneck Is Human”
Chapter 10 in full.
The complete text of “When the Bottleneck Is Human”, 795 words, as published in the manuscript on this site.
When the constraint is a leadership seat.
Vinay Pasricha leads searches for leadership and top-management roles in India: CXOs, the founder’s bench and functional heads. Tell him about the organisation and the role. The enquiry is recorded and sent to him directly.
