The Process or People Problem

Every time something breaks in your business — and it will — you’ve got two places to look:

It’s either a process problem or a people problem.

That’s it.
That’s the list.

But distinguishing between the two? That’s where it gets tricky. And most founders get it wrong because it’s easier to blame the person than to audit the system that set them up to fail.

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Process First, Always

Let’s start with the obvious: most mistakes in a growing company aren’t because someone’s lazy or dumb.
They’re usually because something’s missing.

A step. A system. A piece of context that should’ve been handed over but wasn’t.

I saw a reel the other day — this guy runs a car dealership. Sales were dropping, and he couldn’t figure out why. Turns out, one of his new sales guys had been giving steep discounts on every deal. Killed the margins, even though the volume went up.

At first glance? Rookie error. Fire him.

But dig deeper?
No one trained him.
No one gave him the playbook.
He thought he was doing the right thing to close the sale.

That’s a process problem. Not a people problem. And the moment you misdiagnose that, your whole org suffers for it.

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The Danger of Lazy Leadership

It’s always easier to say:
“Why is this person so bad at their job?”

But the harder — and more useful — question is:
“Did we give them everything they needed to succeed?”

Most of the time, the answer is no.
And if you’re a founder, that’s on you.

We love to talk about "ownership culture" — but that has to start at the systems level. If you haven’t documented your onboarding, your handover, your approval flow, or your review process… don’t expect people to guess. Or worse, blame them when they do.

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But Yes — Sometimes, It Is the Person

Let’s not pretend it’s always the system.

Sometimes, you’ve done the work.
The process is solid.
The expectations are clear.
And things still go off the rails.

That’s when you have to look at your people. And I don’t mean checking if they’re a “culture fit” based on whether they laugh at your memes. I mean:

• Do they ask questions?
  
• Do they show initiative?
  
• Do they take ownership?
  
  

I’ve seen companies sink because one person couldn’t adapt — and leadership let it slide for six months “to be fair.”
Spoiler: that’s not fairness.
That’s slow-motion failure.

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Real-World Story Time

A close friend of mine is the CEO of a startup that’s scaled aggressively over the past two years. Recently, he shared something brutal:

“No matter what system I try to implement, I get pushback from my senior team. I feel disrespected. Unsupported.”

And I looked at the systems he was trying to roll out — they were solid. Smart. Needed.

So what was the problem?

His leadership team had been in place too long.
They were stuck. Comfortable. Resistant to change.
And they were holding the company back.

That’s not a process problem.
That’s a people problem — and it’s an expensive one if you don’t act on it.

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Hire for Mindset, Not Just Skillset

This is why hiring isn’t just about what someone can do — it’s about how they think.

You can train skills. You can evolve workflows.
But you can’t force someone to take ownership.

When we started building Nexubis, I wasn’t looking for shiny CVs.
I was looking for people who could grow with the company.
People who’d take initiative, question decisions, push the team forward — not wait for permission.

That’s the real asset: people who scale with you, not people you have to drag.

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Your Process Isn’t Static

Quick reminder: just because your systems worked six months ago doesn’t mean they’re perfect now.

Every new hire, new service, or new client adds complexity.
What worked for 5 people breaks at 10.
What worked for 3 clients breaks at 8.

Regularly audit your process.
Ask your team what’s unclear or clunky.
Update. Adapt. Iterate.

And if you do all that — and you’re still hitting walls?
That’s when you zoom in on the people.

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TL;DR

• Don’t default to blame. Check your process first.
  
• If the system’s solid, then yes — look at the person.
  
• Hire for mindset, not just tasks.
  
• Evolve your workflows as your company grows.
  
• And for the love of SaaS, stop thinking "loyalty" means letting someone hold your business hostage with underperformance.
  
  

One More Thing…

This is part of a bigger philosophy we’ve shared before — you can check out “Fire Faster, Promote Smarter” for more on how we make hard people decisions quickly and clearly.

Because the longer you wait to fix the real issue — whether it’s process or people — the more your team pays the price.

And that’s not leadership. That’s just being afraid to rock the boat. Rock it. Fix it. Sail better.