You're just one bullet away from a promotion

The 'one bullet away' principle, means that in the military, in particular the combat arms, every person is expected to be able to perform their boss's job and understand their boss's boss's (2 up) plan and job. So in essence, everyone is actually operating one layer below their level of competence.

Let's be clear, there is a huge difference in the military on operations and the military as a business - so we must be careful with some of these analogies. But the lesson is still relevant to business as we'll explore here.

I'm about to move into a significant new professional chapter where we seek to build a new business. Now many new start ups become a one or two person show. Even after growth, they are very dependent on the founders in order to function effectively - in essence a few people ARE the business.

However, if the business is intended to be an asset rather than a lifestyle business; or indeed if you are going to play what Simon Sinek call the 'infinite game', then it can't be like that. There can be no single points of failure at any level.

The One Bullet Away Principle

Let's explore this in more depth. In combat, people die, people get incapacitated, communications get disrupted.

So, at any moment, any single person can find themselves instantly in command where moments before, they were following.

What this means for that individual, is that they must have the knowledge and skills to lead one layer up and the knowledge of the plan two layers up to enact a seamless transition. Battle doesn't stop and pause for a handover. It doesn't stop for someone to ease into a role.

It requires decisive and immediate action.

So military training focuses on this constantly. On career courses you are taught to operate and understand two layers above the level for which the course is qualifying you to operate.

But it's more than this. Commanders (read line managers) have a developmental responsibility for their subordinates. They are expected to mentor and develop them to be able to take on their job at the drop of a hat. And this is exercised regularly in training.

It's a kind of selfless commitment to the overall effectiveness of the team over your own personal fulfilment or idea that it's 'your turn' that makes this work so well.

Clearly, not everyone embraces the approach with the same vigour, but more often than not, when you have a commander who has been in combat - this will be a deep rooted belief and will be practiced religiously.

Why is this relevant in the business and start up world?

Whilst (hopefully) the risk of death and incapacitation is low in business, there are multiple factors that can lead to absence and the need to step up.

Sickness, parental leave, people leave to take up a new position - you name it, people at every level have a life and sometimes life just affects their ability to commit fully to work.

Yet we have a strange propensity to promote people one level above their competence and to accept multiple layers of single points of failure.

How many businesses rely on one person able to do sales? One person able to authorise purchase? Single decision makers?

Now let's just assume that you want to exit your business and set yourself up for retirement...

Do you have a team that functions irrespective or not of whether you are there? They don't need to be as good, maybe not as smooth. But good enough that if you went sick for a week starting right now, nothing would grind to a halt.

Would they know what to do and how to do it to maintain business momentum?

If you can answer yes, then you've got an attractive prospect for any investor or buyer. They don't want to be buying only to find out that as soon as you've gone it all falls apart.

Building that capability is going to be uncomfortable, it's your baby, of course it is. But if you don't do it, those dreams of your business being your retirement will fall away.

Perhaps you're playing the infinite game

In the Infinite game, the idea is business survival over the long term. Not just short term success, but an idea and organisation that endures.

Here too the idea that no-one is indispensable is vital.

Have a business emergency? Is everyone able to step up in responsibility and operate to an intent?

You lose a key director to an emergency? Can people readily step up and make decisions? Do you have processes that enable that?

Have you skilled your people sufficiently that they can step up and do a good enough job to get you through any period?

How is this going to appear in my next phase?

First, in the business that we are going to be building, we will take a 'one bullet away mindset'. No-one is indispensable and we want to be attractive as an organisation, not just as individuals.

Second, imagine a partner who can help you achieve this in your business too:

• Help to not only build a strategy, but align everyone's activity behind that strategy.
• Help to cascade everyone's activity automatically so that they understand their role and how it fits into a wider picture one and two layers up.
• Automation that tracks activity that works and what doesn't that enables people to step up readily and adjust what they are doing.
• Support to develop people and skills so that they are operating one layer below their current level of competence.

In essence, a partner who makes your organisation fit for the fight.

Sound good?