Let go already.

Monday’s truth was simple: control doesn’t scale. But knowing that isn’t enough. Founders need a way to act on it without watching the brand drift.

Here’s the therapy:

Start by drawing a hard line between what only you can decide and what the team should own. Vision, values, and the story your brand tells sit firmly on your desk. Everything else; execution, iterations, campaign tweaks belongs with your people.

Next, replace approvals with principles. If you keep signing off work, your team learns to wait for your judgment instead of using their own. But if you set clear standards; “our tone is sharp, our design is minimal, our promise is trust”, then they can act without you.

Guardrails create speed.

Basecamp built this into their DNA. Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson capped their team size, set a few uncompromising principles, and then got out of the way. Two decades later, the company is still steady. Not because the founders worked every detail, but because they designed a system that didn’t need them in every detail.

This is how you shift from time-based effort to impact-based leadership. Not by working more, but by making fewer, sharper calls.

Reflections to work through:

What’s one approval I can replace with a principle this week?

Where am I acting as a bottleneck out of habit, not necessity?

How can I make sure my best thinking shows up where it matters most?

Notice a bottleneck you can cut today?

Let’s talk.

Ian Adams, Founder the little red sofa

Before founding the little red sofa, I led strategy and creative for brands like Jeep, HSBC, and Unilever at top global agencies and in-house teams across 8 countries. Now I work with founders to turn brand clarity into sustainable growth.