Most of us start our business as the proverbial ‘one-man band’. We literally play every instrument, take on every role, do every job to be done.

When we find other people to help us, we usually hand over the obvious parts that are easy to separate out, or the parts we least enjoy, or sometimes, the parts the other person enjoys playing.

We rarely (almost never?) think through what each individual instrument brings to the piece, or how it fits into the whole ensemble.

So as we grow out of being a one-man band, instead of building an orchestra of multiple, multi-talented players, each able to play in more than one section, knowing exactly what part to play when, we end up as a random collection of one-man-bands that are almost impossible to replace or replicate.

If you want to get out of this situation, or even avoid it altogether, it helps to think about Roles.

A Role is not a person. It’s a part a person plays, a hat they wear. One person can, if trained, play many Roles. The same Role can be played by many people, together, or one at a time.

A Role is not a job description, although it can be part of one. Neither is it a person specification. Many actors can play the same part in a play or film, and yet be utterly themselves in it.

A Role is not a function.

A Role is a the responsibility for carrying out a set of activities that contribute in some way to the experience of your customer. That set of activities might be huge: ‘Share Promise’, or tiny: ‘Greet Customer’. Whatever the scale, it should be clear what needs to be done to fulfill that Role.

Here’s an example: Simply Dancing Partners employs dance teachers and dance partners to help people learn ballroom and latin dancing. But the role that sets them apart from other dance classes is that of the Host.

The Host brings together a venue, a dance teacher, dance partners and clients, to create a dance class. They are responsible for making sure it runs smoothly, enjoyably and profitably for everyone concerned.

This sets them apart because hosting is something that’s often just tagged on to the teacher Role, or forgotten about altogether, and so isn’t done well. But it makes all the difference to the value that can be created – and charged for.

So, if you’re struggling to find that ‘right person’, try disentangling the Roles you’re asking them to play. Maybe you already have people who can play some of them. Maybe you need to recruit more than one person. Either way, the job of finding them will be easier.

Discipline makes Daring possible.