Hiring As Anaesthetic
What’s in this article
the most expensive way to avoid a decision is to hire someone to live inside it.
The pattern
The unexamined reflex at the centre of most operational growth, the one question that separates a real hire from an avoided decision, and why admitting this changed how my own company is built.
The mechanism behind it
Hiring is the most expensive way to avoid a decision, and it is the one nobody argues with.
The pattern is consistent. The work becomes unbearable. The role gets posted. It reads like growth, and on the org chart it looks like growth. Three weeks later the new person is performing the same undocumented process, marginally faster, with a company email address — and the decision that was being avoided is still there, now with somebody's livelihood resting on top of it.
I want to be precise, because this is not an argument against hiring. Hire for judgement you do not have. Hire for relationships only a person can hold. Hire because the work genuinely deserves a life inside it.
What I am against is hiring as anaesthetic.
There is one question that settles it, and it is uncomfortable: if this task were performed perfectly by something that never got bored, would I still want a person on it?
If the answer is no, that was not a hire. That was buying your way out of looking at something.
It took me years to admit this about my own company. It is the reason the company is built the way it is.
What to do with it
it happens the same way every time. the work becomes unbearable, the job gets posted, and everyone calls it growth. three weeks later the new person is doing the same broken thing, slightly faster, with a company email address — and the decision you were avoiding is still there, except now it has somebody's livelihood sitting on top of it.
i want to be careful here, because this is not an argument against hiring. hire for judgement you do not have. hire for a relationship only a person can hold. hire because the work genuinely deserves a life inside it.
what i am against is hiring as anaesthetic.
the test is one question and it is not comfortable: if this task were done perfectly by something that never got bored, would i still want a person on it?
if the answer is no, that was never a hire. that was you buying your way out of looking at something.
i took years to admit this about my own company, and it is the reason it is built the way it is.
comment SYSTEMS and i'll send you the audit that prices the decision before the hire — free.
The bigger picture
the most expensive way to avoid a decision is to hire someone to live inside it.
the work becomes unbearable, the job gets posted, everyone calls it growth. three weeks later nothing about the work has changed — it just has a salary attached now.
hire for judgement you don't have. never for tedium you didn't want to look at.
The Life Audit is free and comes back written: where your hours actually go, and what handing the repeatable half over would change.
Get the free Life Audit →Frequently asked questions
What is the main idea of "Hiring As Anaesthetic"?
Why the reflex to hire when work becomes unbearable usually preserves the problem, and the single question that tells you which kind of hire you are making.
the most expensive way to avoid a decision is to hire someone to live inside it. nothing about the work changed. it's the same undocumented process, now with a salary attached and a person in the middle of it. one question, and it stings: if this were done perfectly by something that never got bored, would i still want a person on it? if no — that wasn't a hire. that was avoidance with a budget line?
hiring is the most expensive way to avoid a decision.
How do you actually apply this?
Start with the Life Audit at marsa.ai/life-audit — free, and it turns this piece into a concrete first step.
Is this about willpower or systems?
Systems. Willpower is finite and unreliable; the durable lever is changing the system, the environment, and the defaults underneath the behavior.
Who is this for?
Founders, operators, and anyone trying to perform and live well in the AI age — the science applies whether it moves a person, a market, or a machine.
Where can I go deeper?
Start with the free protocols at marsa.ai. Every claim here draws on the clinical literature — see the full bibliography at marsa.ai/research.