Common Operational Blockers: Founder Bottleneck
- david373239
- Apr 22
- 3 min read
Are you sitting on a pile of decisions to approve? In the next article in this series, David Smithson-Rudd explores founder bottleneck syndrome.
Last week we tackled the potential blocker of cash flow. This week, we’re coming in a little closer to home; what if the thing holding your business back is you?
Yes, you read that right, you are a potential blocker within your own business. Sometimes, that’s a good thing. Most of the time, it isn’t.
Diagnosis
Let’s address some uncomfortable feelings straight away, so we’re in the best possible state to evolve: no one likes being told that they’re the cause of a problem. A great many of us will become defensive and deny it all, despite suspecting that there is at least some element of truth to it. This is a perfectly natural reaction (you’re allowed to be human), it’s just that such a reaction really isn’t that helpful to you.
When looking to diagnose a case of founder bottleneck syndrome, we look for the following symptoms:
The founder is considered the approver-in-chief
Slow progress with product/service development and other strategic projects
Repetitive decision-making loops (e.g. each series of edits goes to the founder)
Chaser emails make up a significant portion of a founder’s inbox
These are before we consider longer-lasting, and more damaging symptoms, such as frustrated and/or disengaged employees, or a founder who is spending too much time working on internal items and not enough time on external or strategic matters.
Control vs Trust
Many founders would argue that maintaining control over their company’s decisions and outputs ensures that consistent standards are maintained, and risks are mitigated. The reality is that both standards and risk awareness can easily be taught and tracked; the vast majority of businesses operate in a space with precedents and a rich bank of information that can be called upon from their industry. This desire to maintain standards and mitigate risks is in fact a front for something else entirely: a lack of trust.
It doesn’t take a lot of thinking to understand why – a founder has poured their heart and soul into their business, often at great financial risk, and they are ultimately at the apex of the organisation. More often than not, the bottleneck is created from a well-meaning urge to shield the wider team from risk. The retort back to this is that the founder grew their capability through delivering and shouldering risk, therefore employees should similarly be allowed to do the same.
One potential undercurrent is insecurity. The founder may quietly (or subconsciously) doubt their team’s capability – often without saying it aloud.
A founder may also fear losing team members that are delivering in other ways, which is why the existing situation persists. It’s important to remember that the world evolves around us, therefore so should your company, and exiting yourself from this trap should be considered high priority.
Breaking the cycle
The good news is that there are tried-and-tested methods that help you escape this situation, without causing your anxiety levels to go up. Here are a series of steps to follow to get started:
Make a list of all the things you do, or approve, where you have the feeling “I could let this go if I was certain that it would be done in the right way”
For each task, write a list of standards that you follow, and importantly, say why
Include lists of dos, don’ts and additional tips
Talk your team members through these standards, let them ask questions to clarify, then step back
If there are managers between you and those doing the work, empower them with some authority over the process. Start small at first, then build up once your confidence (and theirs) grows
Use tracking tools and systems to reinforce timescales, deadlines and accountability
The benefits you’ll feel
Before long, you will start to reap the benefits; a less congested inbox, higher productivity and most importantly, improved employee engagement. Things may go wrong along the way – just remember that you make mistakes too, and people need to be allowed to fail in a controlled and supported way. That’s how they learn.
Are you still in the weeds and need help emerging? You know what to do – get in touch here, or email david@consultdsr.co.uk. We’ll soon sort things out.
