The people who got you here can still get you there—if you don't break their conditions
Chemists, Chemical Engineers, and Plant Managers
A former ThredUp executive, after 11 years, explains why he became unhappy at the top: he was a chemical engineer—someone who designs and scales systems—promoted into a plant manager role that fought his instincts. He offers three archetypes: chemists discover what works, chemical engineers make it work at scale, and plant managers keep it running. His core insight: when early employees struggle, leaders should first examine whether the organization has destroyed the conditions that made them effective, not assume they've been outgrown.
Sometimes the people who got us here really aren’t the people who will get us there. But sometimes they’re exactly the people we need, and we’ve made it impossible for them to do their best work.