Heroes Don't Scale

The Hero Test · Blank worksheet

The Hero Test worksheet

Name one dependency and one case, for yourself first. Role titles, never names.

As the book prints it

  1. Who is the company waiting for?
  2. Why does it wait?
  3. What would it take to move without them?

Ask these about yourself first, about a normal working week. What would stop if you were away, why would it stop, and what would a capable replacement need? Then widen the question to the company and name the capability or route an important result waits on. Keep the discussion on the work, not the person, and take any performance question to their manager in private.

Choose your seat

  • The CEO or executive
  • The manager at any level
  • The person everyone waits for

The seven questions

Step 2. Answer the seven assessment questions for yourself, about a normal working week. Role titles, never names.

  1. 1.Who is the company waiting for?

  2. 2.Which decisions can only that person make?

  3. 3.What knowledge or relationship exists only with them?

  4. 4.Who can cover their absence?

  5. 5.What can the team decide without seeking permission?

  6. 6.What evidence shows that real work and a relevant exception are handled without that person's routine intervention?

  7. 7.Why does the work wait?

    • Nobody gave the authority, budget, or help to hand it off.
    • One expert knows it, and nobody has made time for them to teach it.
    • The company has done its part, and the work is still held back.

The Bottleneck Check

Step 3. Narrow it with the four-choice Bottleneck Check. Pick the one that describes most of what waits.

  • Which decisions wait for the top?
  • Which initiatives wait for a person instead of an agreed rule?
  • Which budget or staffing choices sit above the person accountable for the result?
  • Which rescues and know-how does only one person hold?

Choose one recurring dependency to change.

The sort

Step 4. Your answer to the last assessment question sorts the dependency into one of three cases: never granted, never transferred, or kept close. The sort decides the response, and it decides the result page you see next. Kept close counts only when the company has already put teaching time on the calendar, named a backup, and recognized the teaching in reviews; until then, it is never transferred.

  • Never granted: resources, authority, or support that were never granted
  • Never transferred: knowledge a valuable expert has not yet had help transferring
  • Kept close: work kept close after the company has kept its side

The 48-Hour Decision Queue Audit

Run the 48-Hour Decision Queue Audit during two working days. Start with the unresolved decisions already waiting, then record each new decision that reaches the person you named. Don't count ordinary consultation as a blocked decision. Continue the same record after the audit as the Waiting Decision Log, whose fields are in Module 1. Record personnel and other confidential decisions by category, owner, and age only.

Module 0 is complete when you can name your case, the chapter you read next, and one action. Heroes don't scale. Systems do.