♖ The Document 99% Miss Completely

Hi Friends,

During my first 5 years at Mercatus, I watched us scale from 5 to 50 people. Throughout this growth, I became fascinated with one question: What behaviors actually get people promoted?

Some people moved up fast. Others got passed over despite being extremely smart and hardworking.

I became hyper observant and noticed people who got promoted shared some consistent behaviors, like:

1. Sent agendas for meetings in advance

2. Delivered strong at deadlines

3. Communicated ideas effectively

4. Took initiatives without being asked

By my 5th year, as I started managing more people, I realized: What if I just wrote all these behaviors down so I can maximize the chances to help others succeed at the company?

What started as a simple idea became our most powerful tool.

In this issue, you'll see the exact template you can apply on Monday to stop wasting months hoping your team "gets it."

Our Operating Standards

I spent months iterating on an internal document what I dubbed "What Will Make You Successful At Mercatus." For every new team member, I dedicated a call to walk through it.

The changes were immediate:

• 1-on-1 meetings transformed - Junior team members came prepared with insights, not just updates.

• Meeting quality skyrocketed - Everyone started sending agendas, aligning on outcomes, driving to actions.

• Performance accelerated - New hires understood "how we work" from day one.

The breakthrough moment came during a management presentation. One of our college interns, Sydney, pitched a new product feature idea. It was well-researched, customer-validated, and showed real initiative.

Our CEO was so impressed, he asked Sydney: "What part of our onboarding made you so effective compared to other interns?"

Her response: "The 'What Will Make You Successful' document. I printed it out and applied it daily to make a name for myself."

That's when our CEO made it company-wide. Eventually, it spread to other divisions within State Street, our Fortune 200 parent company.

It wasn't rocket science. We just wrote down what successful people actually did day to day at the company.

Building This at Pricing I/O

I'm now in week 2 as Head of Growth at Pricing I/O, and creating our Operating Standards is one of my first priorities.

Why the urgency? The team is young, hungry, and we're building the foundation for our next growth phase. I have seen the ripple effects of getting this into the hands of junior employees. I'd rather be proactive about expectations than reactive to miscommunication.

Marcos Rivera (our CEO) and I co-created our "Blueprint for Success." It's specifically tailored for Pricing I/O - because these documents can't be copy-pasted. This is a working draft. You're the first people to actually read it.

Read and edit the full version here. Respond to this email and I can send a Word Doc too if more convenient.

My next step? Walk through this with my team to get their input and finalize our draft.

Once finalized, I'll review it with each team member I manage in our 1-on-1s. I'll also provide real-time feedback when I see great work or areas to improve. Plus, I'll dedicate quarterly sessions to re-review this document, celebrating where they're killing it and addressing areas for improvement.

Bottom line: Most companies assume their team knows what excellence looks like. They don't. This document changes that.

'Til next time,

—Ali

About Me: I'm Ali, Head of Growth at Pricing I/O. I write about building winning teams and growth strategies to scale businesses. Based in Houston, father of two, and still predicting the Texans will win a Super Bowl despite being 0-1.

Learn more about my story on LinkedIn.