People, Process, Profits
Build with great people first, then codify their work into profitable processes
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 97%
People, Process, Profits is an organizational sequencing model. Start with capable people who have the judgment, values, and skills the work requires. Involve them in building and improving the process because strong operators can turn practical knowledge into a reliable system. Once good people work through a sound process, profit becomes the downstream result rather than the first lever. McCormick contrasts this with installing a flawless process first and then inserting poor performers, who can still wreck it. The model does not dismiss process or profit; it argues that their order matters. Leaders use it by diagnosing weak results upstream: first ask whether the right people are present, then whether the process helps them perform, and only then judge the resulting economics.
Origin
Asked about the three P's of business, McCormick corrected their order to people, process, and profits and explained why a flawless process cannot rescue bad people.
Core principles
- 01Great people can create and improve processes
- 02Bad people can break even a flawless process
- 03Sequence matters: people before process before profit
- 04Financial results emerge from capable people working through sound systems
How to run it
- 1
Define the people standard
Identify the skills, judgment, behavior, and values required to perform the work well.
Pro tip Translate vague culture fit into observable behavior.
- 2
Put people first
Select and support capable people before trying to automate every aspect of their work.
Watch out People-first does not mean tolerating harmful behavior or persistent nonperformance.
- 3
Build the process together
Use the team's practical knowledge to document a repeatable way of producing the desired result.
Pro tip Begin with the smallest process that makes quality repeatable.
Watch out A process designed far from the work can formalize false assumptions.
- 4
Test operational fit
Observe whether the process helps good people perform consistently and revise points of friction.
- 5
Measure profits downstream
Evaluate whether the combination of people and process creates sustainable customer and financial value.
Pro tip Trace weak profit backward before applying pressure only to the final number.
In the wild
A company spends months documenting an ideal customer-support workflow but hires people who ignore customers and skip handoffs. The written process cannot compensate. The leader resets the behavioral hiring standard, brings frontline staff into simplifying the workflow, and then measures retention and margin.
→ The company treats profit as the result of aligned people and process rather than a standalone demand.
Common mistakes
Leading with process
A theoretically perfect system still fails when the people operating it lack the required capability or behavior.
Demanding profit without diagnosis
Pressure on the financial result alone can conceal upstream people and process failures.
Is it for you?
Best for
Leaders hiring and designing operating systems for a growing company.
Not ideal for
Highly regulated work where a minimum compliant process must exist before anyone begins operating.
From the transcript
“it's people process in profits”
“if you give me great people we can build great processes and equal great profits”
“if you attempt first to put a flawless process in place and then you put bad people in that process they will wreck your process”
From the episode
JT McCormick: Rise Against All Odds
JT McCormick