Remote team operations
The 70% Rule for Building High-Performing Teams
The 70% rule says: if you have enough information to be roughly 70% confident, decide. Waiting for 100% almost always costs more than being wrong at 70% and correcting quickly.
By Scaleup365 Editorial Team · Last reviewed
Why waiting for 100% is expensive
In hiring, the marginal candidate you meet after week eight is rarely materially stronger than the strong candidate you met in week three. In product, the extra data you wait for often arrives after the market has moved. The cost of delay compounds.
The rule in hiring
If a candidate meets the bar and the loop has produced consistent signal, make the offer. If two interviewers are split, use the tiebreaker you agreed on before the loop started — do not schedule a fifth conversation.
The rule in team decisions
Roles, responsibilities, priorities — decide with the information you have and revisit on a schedule. Perpetually deferred decisions become organisational friction.
When 70% is not enough
Reversible decisions belong at 70%. Irreversible decisions — an equity grant, an executive hire, a major architectural bet — deserve more confidence and more diligence. Naming which category you are in is half the discipline.