Some Assembly Required

Every once in a while, you walk into a job or a business where everything works. The systems are solid. The people know their roles. The culture more or less supports the mission. Those situations exist, but they’re rare.

Most of the time, a new leader or owner steps into something unfinished. Processes are half built. Decisions were deferred. People have created workarounds just to get through the day. At the same time, there are urgent short-term issues and longer-term challenges competing for attention.

That’s why running a business is less about execution and more about assembly.

Startups make this obvious. Nothing arrives complete. Strategy, team, systems, culture, and cash flow are all being assembled at once, often with limited information and real consequences. But this isn’t just a startup problem. Established organizations face the same reality when markets shift, technology changes, or leadership turns over. What once worked no longer fits.

So the real question becomes: how do you assemble when conditions are imperfect and time matters?

When things feel messy or uncertain, I rely on a simple assessment framework borrowed from military foxhole thinking. It works because it assumes pressure, incomplete information, and the need to act anyway.

Start with the current state. Not the org chart or the strategic plan, and not the version of the business you wish you were inheriting. What is actually happening right now? Who is doing the real work? What’s broken? What’s only functioning because people are compensating for weak systems?

Next, define the desired state. This isn’t a vision statement or a five-year roadmap. It’s a practical description of what “working” looks like in the near term. If the business were healthier six to twelve months from now, what would be clearly different?

Then identify the gap. The gap is the distance between reality and where you need to be. It might show up as missing skills, unclear ownership, fragile processes, misaligned incentives, or decisions that have been postponed for too long. Naming the gap accurately matters more than sounding optimistic.

Finally, decide on the action required. Not everything at once. Just the next set of moves that actually close the gap. Hire or restructure. Simplify. Invest. Stop doing something that no longer serves the mission. Make the call, act, and then reassess.

This process isn’t linear. It’s a loop. You act, learn, adjust, and assemble again. Conditions change, information improves, and new problems emerge. That’s normal.

Leaders who struggle often expect stability. Leaders who succeed accept that “some assembly required” is the permanent condition. The job isn’t to wait for clarity or avoid the mess. The job is to keep assembling anyway.

John Bradley Jackson
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P.S. For the record, I never served in the military. I did register for the draft in 1973, but was never called. I was relieved at the time, but later felt that I missed something powerful. I admire the discipline embraced in the military and the teamwork that is required. Foxhole thinking is very applicable for us corporate and startup warriors.