🌍 What’s the Problem?
Last week I had a very busy schedule. Business, personal matters, and everything in between — writing simply didn’t happen.
In my case, it’s safe. Writing isn’t a core income stream. Missing a few posts has no operational impact.
But is that true for your company?
In many companies, critical duties sit on the shoulders of a single person — because of expertise, history, or team structure.
And that’s a structural glitch waiting to cause damage at the worst possible moment.
🧩 How Do Most People Solve It?
They don’t.
Every time that person takes sick leave or vacation, the work simply stops.
Everyone accepts this as normal — a built-in inefficiency.
But what if that person leaves permanently?
Or takes a longer medical break?
Even the most loyal employee can be absent unexpectedly.
A typical one-month notice is rarely enough to transfer years of tacit knowledge, and someone else will still need time to understand, apply, and stabilize it in ongoing tasks.
🌱 Why Doesn’t It Work?
The wasted time quietly accumulates:
stalled tasks
delayed projects
unhappy clients
missed opportunities
Individually, these seem manageable.
Collectively, they form a slow operational collapse — one that feels “normal” only because it’s been happening for years.
🧠How Can You Solve It Differently?
Diversification isn’t just a stock market concept — it’s a safeguard for every critical asset a company has.
In tech companies, the core asset is the product or service.
If its quality or availability drops the moment one person is absent, it means there is no safeguard.
Knowledge must be transferable.
Even if only one person is required to perform a duty, at least one additional person should be able to step in without friction.
Practical approaches:
Document each domain clearly in a shared, accessible tool.
Avoid single-person “islands”; embed individuals into teams or paired roles whenever possible.
Where gaps are large, run regular knowledge-sharing sessions (online or offline) to distribute expertise and reduce dependency.
⚙️ Start Improving the Process Now
Start eliminating single points of failure this week:
List all roles where only one person handles a critical set of duties. Prioritize by risk; pick the top three to address.
Have each person document their domain thoroughly in your corporate tool (Confluence, Notion, etc.). Frame it as a policy, not a threat.
Integrate these individuals into relevant teams if they’re currently isolated.
Ask teammates to review the documentation and flag unclear or incomplete areas.
Run a knowledge-sharing session when the knowledge base is large or questions are numerous.
Make this a recurring practice.
When knowledge is shared, critical work continues — even when people can’t.
đź’¬ Your Turn
If you’ve dealt with single points of failure in your company, I’d be interested to hear how you approached it and what worked. You can reply this email or reach me via X DM.
