What traps keep you stuck in the weeds?

Be honest: what keeps dragging you back into the weeds—too many approvals, unclear roles, lack of processes, or nonstop firefighting? I’ve worked with a lot of owners who face the same patterns. The good news: you’re not the problem; your operating system is. And it’s fixable.

Quick self-check (pick your trap)

Use these questions to pinpoint where the friction lives. Share them with your leadership team and circle what applies.

1) Too many approvals

• • Do decisions wait on one or two people for sign-off?

• • Are dollar thresholds for approvals unclear or inconsistent?

• • Do “exceptions” get routed to you by default?

• • Do projects pause when you’re traveling or in meetings?

2) Unclear roles

• • Do people ask, “Who owns this?” or “Is that my job?”

• • Are outcomes debated because responsibilities overlap?

• • Do escalations bounce between departments?

• • Do you have titles, but not real accountabilities?

3) Lack of processes

• • Are steps in key workflows stored in people’s heads?

• • Do new hires learn by shadowing and guesswork?

• • Do errors repeat because no one updated a standard?

• • Is every “special case” handled differently?

4) Daily firefighting

• • Is your leadership meeting mostly status and emergencies?

• • Do you ship late because priorities change mid-week?

• • Do you chase root causes or just put out the latest fire?

• • Are you working in the business more than on it?

If you circled two or more in any section, that’s your trap. And the escape route is to install (or tighten) a simple business operating system—the way your company makes decisions, runs meetings, measures results, and executes.

The fix: install a simple operating system

Here’s the backbone I help teams put in place:

1. 1. Accountability Chart (not just an org chart).
      Define seats, outcomes, and key numbers per seat. Remove overlap; make one owner per outcome.

1. 1. Decision rights & approval thresholds.
      Write down who decides what, at what dollar size, and when to escalate. Push decisions down where the information lives.

1. 1. Document your 20% vital processes.
      Identify the 8–12 core processes (sales, onboarding, scheduling, purchasing, production/fulfillment, billing, collections, support). Capture the 80/20 version in plain language. Train, audit, improve.

1. 1. Meeting rhythm with a tight agenda.
      Weekly leadership meeting focused on priorities, scorecard, and solving issues (not updates). Daily 10–15 minute team huddles where needed.

1. 1. Scorecards with leading indicators.
      Each seat tracks 1–3 numbers that predict results (quotes sent, cycle time, first-pass yield, DSO). Review weekly; fix red numbers quickly.

1. 1. Quarterly priorities (“rocks”) and a simple cadence.
      Set 3–5 company priorities and 1–3 per leader. Review progress weekly; complete them every quarter.

1. 1. Delegation by design.
      Use a delegation matrix to move tasks off the owner’s plate. Start with low-risk items, then raise thresholds as the team proves capability.

A quick story

A $14M company I worked with was stuck in approvals: the owner signed nearly every PO and discount. We set clear thresholds, moved routine decisions to the Operations and Sales Managers, and added a weekly scorecard. Within 60 days: PO cycle time dropped 38%, on-time delivery increased 12 points, and the owner reclaimed ~8 hours/week—time reinvested in strategic customers and hiring.

Your 30-day “out of the weeds” sprint

• • Week 1: Map the Accountability Chart and publish decision thresholds.

• • Week 2: Pick your top 5 processes and document the 80/20 version.

• • Week 3: Launch the weekly leadership meeting with a tight issues list.

• • Week 4: Stand up the scorecard and assign owners for each metric.

You’ll feel relief fast—less waiting, fewer surprises, more progress.

Use this with your team

Run a 20-minute conversation:

1. 1. Vote on which trap hurts most.

1. 1. Agree on one 30-day sprint action from the list above.

1. 1. Assign owners and dates.

1. 1. Review weekly until it’s done.

If you want a facilitator to get this stood up quickly, I can help you put a practical operating system in place and tailor it to your business.