The Problem of 7s & 8’s
I credit this post’s idea to my cofounder Sud who has helped articulate this. While our initial discussion was about start-up team members, I believe this extends to life in general.
So what is the problem of 7s and 8s?
There are three buckets of team members while building a company.
1-6s: They are clearly below par. These are obvious under-performers in the company or team, easily identifiable, easy for most people in the team to agree that their performance brings the team down. Most companies are trying to weed out 1-6s during interview process and if they are hired, companies are quick to fire them.
7-8: These individuals are often performing okay - they are getting the job done or just falling short. They demonstrate promise in few areas and struggle in few others. Some team members might consider them insanely valuable while others might think the opposite. It always seems that they are almost there, a little coaching or right mentorship and they will deliver to their full potential. In reality, it is rarely the case.
9-10: These are the rockstars. These are obvious individuals who are performing above the team median by a standard deviation or more. They go above and beyond and their contributions and impact is felt by everyone. They pull the company forward and are builders.
Please note, by rating a team member 1-10 on performance, its not an objective measure of that person. It is a measure of their contribution during a specific period of time in a specific context for a specific company and culture.
Most managers are quick to fire the team members who rank between 1 to 6, but struggle with the 7-8. The 7s and 8s are the hardest challenge in management and one navigates 7s and 8s determines teams long term success. Some managers take too long to fire them, most managers never fire them. The 7s and 8s slowly drag the company down - they pull it towards mediocrity. Also, more the 7s and 8s in the team - the more 7s and 8s will be hired and tolerated. It is dangerous.
This extends to life. Our habits, relationships, associations can fall in to the same 3 buckets.
The worst habits, relationships and associations: The 1-6s will make life miserable. We realize that and we try to avoid it. When we do fall pray to in often society has many support groups and helpline to usually help us. Society also denounces such behavior through social exclusion. Examples of these might include being rude to others, excessive alcoholism, never exercising, eating junk food for every meal.
The best habits and relationships are the 9s and 10s of life and it includes simple things like getting good sleep, eating healthy food, building a good community etc. Most of know what 9s and 10s are - but it is hard to do, it is very rare to do them consistently and hence few are able to practice these or keep it up.
Most of us have a lot of habits which are 7s and 8s and have high tolerance for it. An okay job, sitting too many hours on your desk, drinking a glass of wine or two per day, tolerating a slightly toxic partner, having unmotivated friends etc.
