Runs on PeoplePlaybooks / Capability · 2 min read
People debt
You track tech debt. The shortcuts you take with people compound faster.
In 30 seconds
- Every skipped conversation, unkept promise and solo expert is a loan.
- Score each one by how fast it grows and how much it would hurt.
- Pay down one item a week, starting top right.
The situation
One person resigns and three systems lose their only expert. Nothing broke overnight. It had been building for months.
What's really going on
Each shortcut made sense at the time: skip the hard conversation before the release, let one person own billing because it's quicker. Together they're people debt, and the interest comes due all at once.
What to do
- Audit for 30 minutes. For each person, ask: a conversation I'm avoiding? A promise not kept? Something only they know? Recognition I owe?
- Score it. Interest: how fast it's getting worse. Blast radius: what happens if it comes due tomorrow.
- Pay one item a week. One conversation, one pairing session, one promise kept.
- Budget for it. A quarter with no time for knowledge-sharing or growth is borrowing again.
The five kinds
| Debt | Looks like | Repayment |
|---|---|---|
| Knowledge | One person can deploy or debug it | Pair on every change until two can |
| Conversation | An issue everyone works around | The conversation, this week |
| Promise | "Next cycle," said twice | A date in writing, or an honest no |
| Recognition | Good work nobody mentioned | Specific thanks |
| Growth | Same work for two years | A stretch project, with support |
How you'll know it's working
- Single points of failure: the number of systems only one person can run falls every quarter.
- Promises: none overdue.
- Care check: everyone on the team can name their next growth step.
In the frameworks
- Team Topologies: Single points of failure are a cognitive-load problem. Spread the load before it breaks someone.
- SAFe: Use capacity allocation to reserve time for knowledge-sharing and enablers, not just features.
- Lean: Develop people before building products: people debt is what happens when you don't.
In other industries
- Healthcare Only one nurse knows how to set up the new infusion pumps.
- Accountancy One senior manager holds every relationship with your biggest client.
- Manufacturing One fitter can fix line 3, and they retire in March.
- Small business The founder is the only person who can price a job.
What to say
"We track tech debt carefully. I want to track people debt the same way: single points of failure, broken promises, avoided conversations. Here are the three items that would hurt most if they came due next month."
Try this week
List your team. Next to each name, write the one thing you owe them.
Think about it
Which item on your list has been there the longest, and what has avoiding it cost?
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