Nine people are billable. Two can sign off the work.

Headcount grew, lead times didn't improve, and utilisation looks healthy, because the capacity that actually governs throughput was never the headcount.

By Steve 5 min read
Abstract bridge artwork for Nine people are billable. Two can sign off the work.

A firm goes from six delivery staff to nine. Revenue rises. Utilisation reports look respectable. And yet the complex jobs still slip, the same two names still appear on every escalation, and the founder still spends Sunday evening reading drafts. Nothing in the headcount number explains it, because the headcount number was never the thing setting throughput. What sets throughput is the scarcest capability in the delivery chain: the person who can price an unusual job, sign off a design, hold the difficult client conversation, or make the judgement call…

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