What's more valuable: "The System" or "A Systems Thinker"?
I think the answer is obvious in my opinion. But I feel it's important to share the most underrated perspective when it comes to Systems Consulting/DFY Agencies.... A systems thinker is 100% more valuable than the system they leave behind. Platforms evolve, SOPs change... nothing ever stays the SAME. Break down a business into departments: - Finance - Marketing - Sales - Product Development - Etc. And we can see the core anatomy of a business is the same across the board, the difference lies in the offer, proprietary SOPs, and people involved (values). So when we understand the anatomy of the business, we can drop into ANY company, in ANY niche, and know exactly where to look first. The system someone hands you is just a snapshot, it was the right answer for one moment in time. But the moment the platform updates, the offer shifts, or a new hire changes the team dynamic, that snapshot is already out of date. The systems thinker doesn't hand you a snapshot. They hand you the lens. This is the difference between buying a fish and learning to fish, except it's bigger than that. A systems thinker teaches you to read the water, to know which season the fish move, to build the rod when the old one breaks. The system is the fish. The thinker is everything around it. Here's what this means practically: - A system without a systems thinker rots. It runs fine until the first edge case nobody documented, then it quietly breaks and nobody knows why. - A systems thinker without a system is still dangerous. Drop them in cold and they will rebuild what's missing, because they understand the anatomy, not just the artifact. So if you're hiring, building a team, or deciding what to invest in for your own skillset, optimize for the THINKER, not the artifact. Buy the SOP if you need a quick win. Become the systems thinker if you want to never be stuck again. That's the whole game. What do you think? Are you collecting systems, or are you building the way you think?