Force multipliers help people amplify their impact. I’m aware of two different kinds: people and leverage.

People

Here are some attributes I’ve seen in people that act as force multipliers:

• They find ways to scale knowledge, perhaps through writing, processes, automation, or more. They find ways to make knowledge self documenting and discoverable. They think about knowledge hierarchies and teaching.

• They impart first principles and good taste onto others. After seeding teams or ideas, and growing others around them, they’re able to safely move on and trust that the team will continue along the right track, and make future decisions. That is, they put themselves out of this job.

• They have endurance and can sustain others over long voyages of work, helping others along the way. That is, they can sprint, but also run marathons.

Leverage

Here are some attributes I’ve seen in leverage that act as force multipliers:

• It has a platform-effect. It becomes a key part of others workflows, which can be extended or customized for the interested person without excessive investment from the platform team.

Beware negative numbers when dealing with force multipliers. A large positive number multiplied by even a small negative number, is a big negative number.

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