Eliminate Single Points of Failure

Picture of B2B Bandits

B2B Bandits

Eliminate Single Points of Failure

The following is a response to Sebastian Marshall’s blog post: High Production, Shaky Habits.

Hey Sebastian,

long time listener, first time caller.

photo credit: postaletrice via photopin cc
photo credit: postaletrice via photopin cc

Your challenges with a productive yet erratic / uneven schedule reminded me of a phrase we use religiously at my company –“Eliminate single points of failure”. Originally learned during my four years as a cadet at the Air Force Academy, and refined as an active-duty officer, most of my operational shortcomings can be traced to ignoring this single concept. While at the academy, we purposely built schedules for young cadets that were not humanly possible to see how they responded to the stress.

Curiously, the decision didn’t distill down to “what’s more important?” but “who was I willing to piss off?”. In my case, I would rather take a tongue lashing from one of my uniform-wearing professors then spend 20 minutes with one of my vindictive upperclassmen while in the push-up position while shouting out military quotes, “Sir, war is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things, the decayed and degraded state of society is much worse …” And in the following years while an officer, I used to dread the annual updating the of the unit continuity books – in fact we would be rebuked (sometimes publicly) for allowing ourselves to become a single point of failure when some task wasn’t completed while we were on leave.

Interestingly enough, that lesson was forgotten when I transitioned into small biz ownership. And I (and eventually my team and clients) began to feel the inevitable side-effects of single-points of failure … well .. failing.

So I finally asked myself the right question (plagiarizing you a bit there): What is my company’s biggest weakness?

The painful answer: me.

And the uncomfortable (but very prudent) solution: delegate or decide.

Delegate even the really important stuff, and Decide who you are willing to piss off when it doesn’t work out. Admittedly, some expensive mistakes were made by my team during this transition into a robust organization, and I sometimes would rubber-band back into doing these tasks myself only to burn out, and have re-delegate those same tasks in state of desperation instead proactive management. I also decided which clients I should fire, which friendships I would put on the back-burner, and allowed my ego to take the brunt of the upcoming blows.

Hell, that was a long ramble. Thanks for reading, and keep writing. These internal scorecards certainly keep me on my toes.

– Nate Wright –
Owner, Small Biz Triage

Picture of B2B Bandits

B2B Bandits

Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.

Robert Greene’s 6th Strategy of War States.

Digging these strategies?

Get them delivered to your inbox weekly.

READ MORE

The Blitz

by B2B BanditsJanuary 31, 2025

Unconventional B2B Strategy #14 1818. South Africa. The 12,000-strong Ndwandwe army emerges from the morning mist. Shaka waits with his...

Ethical Espionage

by B2B BanditsJanuary 24, 2025

Unconventional B2B Strategy #13 1942. Lisbon. Juan Pujol writes another coded message for the Nazis. English troop movements. Air defenses....

Lose to Win

by B2B BanditsJanuary 17, 2025

Unconventional B2B Strategy #12 333 B.C. A young king from Greece had just crushed Persia’s forces in Turkey - his...

Strategic Retreat

by B2B BanditsJanuary 20, 2025

Unconventional B2B Strategy #11 In 1934, Mao Zedong’s Red Army faced annihilation. Encircled by Nationalist forces, they were outnumbered and...

Weaponize Anxiety

by B2B BanditsDecember 18, 2024

Unconventional B2B Strategy #10 In 1220, the world's wealthiest trading city stood defiant. Located on the Silk Road in modern-day...

Arrogance Kills

by B2B BanditsDecember 12, 2024

Unconventional B2B Strategy #9 Northern China. 316 B.C. The Wei army, 100,000 strong, invaded the state of Qi. Wei’s generals...