Hiring to Solve the Wrong Problem

I think it’s interesting how often companies hire to solve a specific problem.

Far fewer hire someone to assess what’s actually working, what isn’t, and to identify what the core problem really is.

In many cases, those are not the same thing.

A company might believe they have a sales problem when what they actually have is a targeting problem, a messaging problem, or a demand generation problem. The symptom shows up in sales performance, but the root cause sits somewhere else in the system.

I’ve seen this pattern play out repeatedly.

A team struggles to hit targets, so the conclusion is that they need better salespeople. A new leader is brought in with a mandate to “fix sales,” but the underlying issues remain. The ICP is unclear, the go-to-market strategy is inconsistent, and there isn’t enough qualified demand entering the pipeline.

In that environment, even strong operators will struggle to produce consistent results.

This isn’t a criticism of founders or leadership teams. In most cases, they are reacting to what they can see. The challenge is that the most visible problem is not always the most important one.

The highest leverage hires I’ve seen are not just strong operators. They are people who can diagnose before they act.

They take the time to understand the system, identify where it is breaking down, and prioritize the work that will actually move the business forward.

Solving the wrong problem well is still the wrong outcome.