Thoughts:
“Your staff is your second brain. Train them to think for you.”
“The more decisions you make for your team, the less they grow—and the more you burn out.”
“The smartest thing I did was teach my team how to think before they ask.”
“If your staff can’t bring a solution with their question, send them back to try again.”
“You can’t scale a team that can’t think. Period.”
If your staff has to ask you for permission before scratching their own head…
You don’t have a team. You have a burden.
And it’s gonna cost you time, money, and eventually your peace of mind.
I used to think the goal was hiring “sharp” people.
You know… those ones that send updates every 3 seconds and ask for your opinion on every little thing.
Until I realized: that’s not smart.
That’s just stress dressed in “work ethic.”
I was answering more than 30+ questions a week.
And 25 of them could’ve been solved without me if I taught my people how to think.
So I changed the rules.
Now, before you bring any problem to me, you must use the 131 Method.
Let me explain it in simple terms:
1 Problem 3 Possible Solutions 1 Recommended Option
That’s the 131.
Instead of asking “What should I do?”
They tell me:
What the problem is
Three things they could try
The one they believe will work best—and why
Read that again.
It’s like giving your team brains that work without pinging you on WhatsApp every 12 minutes.
You stop being the bottleneck.
They start being useful.
And that’s when you finally breathe.
How To Do This:
Start with “Problem Clarity” Training
Most staff don’t actually bring you a problem.
They bring you confusion—then dump it on your lap like “Oga, over to you.”
You’ll hear things like:
“Customer said something and now she’s angry.”
Or “The order has not gone and the guy is messaging me.”
Useless.
That’s not a problem. That’s noise.
So the first thing you need to teach your staff is how to report a problem with clarity.
I tell my own team:
“If you can’t explain the issue in 2–3 short sentences with facts, you don’t understand it well enough to ask for help.”
Here’s the format I give them:
What happened? (One line)
What’s the issue caused? (One line)
What’s at risk if we don’t act fast? (Optional)
No long story.
No voice note with heavy breathing and scattered gist.
Just calm, clear reporting—like a real professional.
That’s how you stop being an emotional dumping ground for every small issue.
Force the “3 Solution Rule”
Once they learn to define the problem clearly…
You hit them with the rule: Don’t come to me empty-handed.
If you’re going to ask me what to do, you better have three ideas of what you could do.
Even if they sound dumb.
Even if one idea is “wait and observe.”
I don’t care.
I’m not looking for perfect.
I’m training you to think.
You’re not a child. You’re a team member.
You’re paid to solve things, not to pass every bump up to the boss like a scared intern.
Most of your staff already have one or two ideas in their head.
They just don’t say it out loud because they don’t want to be wrong.
But guess what?
If they never try to think, they’ll never learn.
And you’ll keep babysitting grown adults who call you 7 times a day.
Train your team to bring 3 options.
They’ll stop hiding behind you—and start carrying real responsibility.
Make Them Pick One
This part is key.
They’ve told you the problem.
They’ve given you three options.
Now? Make them pick one.
No fence-sitting.
No “What do you think, boss?”
They must choose a path forward—and explain why they think it’s the best move.
It could be:
“Option 2 is cheaper.”
“Option 1 is faster.”
“Option 3 avoids conflict with the customer.”
Whatever. Let them make a call.
Even if they’re wrong, it’s better they learn to decide than stay dependent forever.
Because here’s the real truth:
80% of what your staff ask you… are questions they already know the answer to.
They just want you to think for them.
So when sh*t goes wrong, you take the blame.
That’s the trap.
And every time you respond with “Okay, just do X,” you’re making it worse.
You’re telling them: don’t think—just ask.
Which means… you’ll never scale past your own bandwidth.
Your business will always need you to operate.
That’s not a business. That’s a prison.
That’s Why I Use The 131 Method
1 problem 3 solutions 1 recommended move
Simple.
It makes your staff think before they ping.
It gives you back your brain.
And it helps you build a team that can run the business, not just wait for you to rescue it every 3 hours.
You’ll still use your experience to make the final call, but it’s save you a lot of time.
This one method bought me my sanity back.
And now I teach it inside E-commerce Success Launchpad too—because no E-commerce business can scale without a smart team.
I didn’t figure this out alone.
And I didn’t implement it perfectly from day one.
But inside E-commerce Success Launchpad, I packaged this exact system, along with the tools, templates, and SOPs…
…to help you turn your team into decision-makers (not brain-suckers).
Inside E-commerce Success Launchpad, you’ll get full access to the E-commerce Team Management & Habit System Training where we teach you how to:
Train your staff to think using tools like the 131 Method
Implement the Muncher System to solve daily challenges without your involvement
Use our Staff SOP Playbooks & Task Delegation Templates to reduce hand-holding
Introduce weekly Ownership Check-ins that build staff confidence and accountability
You’ll stop repeating yourself.
You’ll stop chasing people for updates.
You’ll finally stop being the ONLY brain in the business.
If you want to scale without losing your mind to micro-management…
Join E-commerce Success Launchpad now
