Investing in High Performers Through Incremental Experiments

Molly Graham believes that investing time and energy in high performers, rather than focusing primarily on struggling team members, yields the greatest returns for your organization. She sees high performers as the future of your company, yet observes that most leaders tend to leave them alone because "they're doing well."

When Molly identifies a high performer, she builds a systematic approach to draw out their potential through a series of experiments. She develops a theory about what someone might be capable of, then tests it incrementally. These experiments don't require assigning entire new jobs or projects—they can be as simple as giving someone a task with less guidance, a project with more visibility, or managing them with less oversight.

The experimental approach allows her to deepen her understanding of a person's capabilities while matching them to company needs. She asks herself: "Where do we need this person's strengths? How can I get them working on bigger and more critical things?" This process helps unlock potential in people who might otherwise remain confined to their current role.

For individual contributors, this perspective means high performance doesn't just earn you autonomy—it should earn you thoughtful development. When a manager gives you incrementally challenging opportunities, they're likely testing a hypothesis about your potential. These experiments are designed to help you grow while providing valuable signals about your capabilities.

For managers, this approach offers a practical framework: identify your high performers, develop theories about their potential, design small experiments to test those theories, and gradually increase the scope and autonomy of their work. The goal isn't to immediately promote them into roles they're unprepared for, but to systematically expand their capabilities through deliberate challenges that build on their strengths.

This investment in high performers creates what Molly calls "little rocket ships"—people who might start as project managers but eventually run entire functions because someone took the time to develop them through thoughtful experimentation.