The best companies don't need heroes

"Most companies are rewarding failure."

Here's what I mean, remember the last all hands?

Who got praised?

The person who solved the big crisis.

Who got the bonus?

The one who saved the failing project.

Who got promoted?

The manager known for handling emergencies.

Seeing a pattern here?

We've built organizations that celebrate the firefighter while ignoring the fire preventor.

What has this led to?

Prevention becomes invisible.

Problems get solved too late.

Systems stay broken.

More fires start.

More heroes emerge.

The cycle continues.

The expensive truth is that your organization is rewarding people for letting problems grow big enough to notice.

Think about this, the manager who builds systems that prevent issues?

Has no dramatic stories to tell.

The team that catches problems early?

Often has no "visible" wins.

The leader who makes crisis rare?

Has nothing exciting to report.

Until something breaks.

Your most valuable leaders might be the ones you've never noticed.

Because when they do their job perfectly, nothing happens.

Questions for leaders:

When was the last time you celebrated prevented problems?

How do you measure the crisis that didn't happen?

What if your best performers are invisible?

The best companies don't need heroes.

They build systems that prevent the need for rescue.