The other day, I saw another business guru sharing his wisdom.

Apparently, founders and managers should delegate absolutely everything that can be done for less than $1,000 an hour.

So they can focus on higher-value activities.

Thousands of likes.

Hundreds of comments.

Everyone applauding.

Sheep.

Cheerleaders.

It looked like an election campaign.

But… don't get me wrong.

You won't need to convince me about delegation.

But… Delegation without control is called abdication.

And there's something else.

Just because you “can” delegate something doesn't mean you “should”.

Design?

Delegate.

Marketing?

Delegate.

Product development?

Delegate.

Strategy?

Well, there's always a consultant.

Brilliant.

At this rate, the founder will have so little work left that perhaps we should delegate the founder too.

I can imagine Apple rushing to replace its key design and marketing people with cheaper alternatives.

Look.

We've become obsessed with the cost of doing things.

And remarkably uninterested in the cost of doing them badly.

An experienced executive can sometimes solve a problem in twenty minutes.

They've spent twenty years dealing with similar disasters… and losing his hair in the way.

Experience is a wonderful thing.

Especially when someone else has already paid for the mistakes.

Now imagine I charge you $1,000 for those twenty minutes.

Expensive?

Perhaps.

But what if that conversation saves you $15 million?

Suddenly, the hourly rate looks irrelevant.

Of course, common sense and judgement should be worth considerably more than $1,000 an hour.

Unfortunately, neither comes with a universally accepted rate card.

And if you're a consultant, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Here's my advice.

Delegate execution.

Never delegate judgement blindly.

And absolutely never confuse the price of someone's time with the value of their decisions.

If you're facing a serious problem, perhaps it's worth making The First Call.

Before deciding you can solve it yourself.

Or, even better, giving it to the most enthusiastic junior in the office.

Because if you want to know what's really expensive...

Wait until you discover how much your cheap solution costs.

$49.90 1:1 The First Call A PPP decision on your desk? Let’s talk. A letter you need to send. A claim you need to respond to. A project issue... Read more Book The First Call

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