Stop hiring for roles and start automating workflows. Discover the secret "workspace philosophy" to turn AI into a high-leverage employee that scales your speed.
The shift from hiring for roles to automating workflows is the correct mental model. Where I see this play out most clearly is in premium businesses: the human relationship is still the moat at the customer-facing layer, but the back-office and data operations that inform those decisions are almost entirely automatable. The P&L impact when you actually execute this is not marginal. It changes the cost structure of how these businesses operate.
Most people aren’t stuck because the tools aren’t good enough, they’re stuck because they’re still thinking in terms of jobs instead of outputs. Once you start breaking things down into repeatable pieces, it becomes obvious how much of the day is just structure, not creativity.
The part that stands out is the emphasis on environment over prompts. Everyone chases better answers, but very few build systems that consistently produce them. That’s where the gap opens.
Also agree on the “chatbot trap.” Long conversations feel productive, but they blur the objective. The real leverage comes from turning decisions into something reusable, not something you have to rediscover every time.
Made me step back a bit. The idea of breaking down into workflows really clicks, especially how much of it is routine. It shifts how you think about where real value sits and what needs a human touch. Genuinely. Great piece.
only 1 other comment so far... it's because the title is scaring everyone away but that's on them. I was literally just talking about roles today and you killed them on me. thank you!
As always, a very nice article.
The shift from hiring for roles to automating workflows is the correct mental model. Where I see this play out most clearly is in premium businesses: the human relationship is still the moat at the customer-facing layer, but the back-office and data operations that inform those decisions are almost entirely automatable. The P&L impact when you actually execute this is not marginal. It changes the cost structure of how these businesses operate.
Most people aren’t stuck because the tools aren’t good enough, they’re stuck because they’re still thinking in terms of jobs instead of outputs. Once you start breaking things down into repeatable pieces, it becomes obvious how much of the day is just structure, not creativity.
The part that stands out is the emphasis on environment over prompts. Everyone chases better answers, but very few build systems that consistently produce them. That’s where the gap opens.
Also agree on the “chatbot trap.” Long conversations feel productive, but they blur the objective. The real leverage comes from turning decisions into something reusable, not something you have to rediscover every time.
Made me step back a bit. The idea of breaking down into workflows really clicks, especially how much of it is routine. It shifts how you think about where real value sits and what needs a human touch. Genuinely. Great piece.
only 1 other comment so far... it's because the title is scaring everyone away but that's on them. I was literally just talking about roles today and you killed them on me. thank you!
great insight on the importance of the workflow that achieves the outcome. Org charts are irrelevant for workflows.
Org charts are still useful to mentor and support an individual’s growth.
How does this play into meetings!?
https://dankorus.substack.com/p/37b-wasted-in-meetings-annually-how?r=2e9akt&utm_medium=ios