Tolerating Mediocrity is Costing You

TL;DR

If your org chart feels bloated and your growth feels stalled, there’s a good chance your real problem isn’t market conditions; you’re tolerating mediocrity. This silent killer increases process inefficiency, erodes team culture, and drags down high performers. This post explores the true cost and offers five ways to fix it - fast.

Let’s Rip the Band-Aid Off

Your org chart costs you because you’re tolerating the wrong talent.

Every executive hits that moment when you think, “a team member isn’t terrible, but they’re also not driving results. They’re… fine.” You make excuses. Maybe you redesign roles or build processes around their inefficiencies, but here's the truth:

Tolerating mediocrity creates drag because it slows down execution, increases operational complexity, and kills your culture from the inside out. If you’re leading a growing business and wondering why scaling feels like swimming through mud, this might be why.

Businessmen with umbrellas image from Wix

Packard’s Law

David Packard (yes, of Hewlett-Packard) famously said:

“No company can grow revenues consistently faster than its ability to get enough of the right people to implement that growth and still become a great company.”

Translation: when you don’t have the right people in the right seats, you’ll try to compensate with more process instead of better performance. That’s where bloat starts, and it always ends badly.

What Tolerating Mediocrity Really Costs You

1. Process Inefficiency - You build bloated approval chains to “mitigate risk,” not realizing the real risk is your slow, confusing, and demoralizing process. IDC research estimates businesses lose 20–30% in revenue annually due to process inefficiencies, often driven by unqualified people in key roles.

   
   

   See blog: The real cost of process inefficiency.

   
   

2. Cultural Decay - Your A-players are watching. If you protect underperformers, they disengage or, worse, leave. Tolerating mediocrity tells your top talent that excellence isn’t valued here.

   
   

3. Decision Drag - Mediocre employees avoid clarity. They deflect responsibility and create ambiguity. This leads to stalled decisions, missed opportunities, and the dreaded “status alignment meeting.”

   
   

   See blog: Creating a Culture of Accountability: The Secret Sauce Your Team Is Missing

   
   

4. Missed Growth - Let’s be blunt: you can’t scale a business built on meh. High-performing teams require high expectations. If your org is overrun with average, your growth will be too.

   
   

   See blog: How speed wins – simplicity as a competitive advantage

   
   

5. Reputation Risk - Clients, partners, and potential new hires notice. When accountability is optional, people talk, and not in a good way.

Why We Keep Mediocre People Too Long

We keep mediocre people too long because we’re human. Common rationalizations include:

• “They’ve been loyal.”

• “They’re not that bad.”

• “We don’t have time to hire someone new.”

• “I don’t want to hurt morale.”

Unfortunately, your team already knows. You’re not hiding anything. You’re just sending a message that tolerating mediocrity is allowed here.

Five Actions to Eliminate Mediocrity and Build a High-Performing Team

5 Actions to Eliminate Mediocrity Infographic

1. Reframe ‘Fit’ Around Future Growth

   Ask yourself: Would I rehire this person today to help us scale tomorrow? If the answer isn’t a clear yes, it’s a no.

   
   

2. Audit the Cost of Accommodation

   List every workaround, extra process, or approval chain built to support this individual. If you’re engineering your business around someone's limitations, that’s a red flag.

   
   

3. Define the Role for Today and Tomorrow

   Don’t backfill old job descriptions. Build roles that reflect where your company is going, and then hire or promote to that version.

   
   

4. Build a Culture of Accountability

   High-performance cultures thrive when accountability is a habit, not a punishment. Check out Apexium’s guide on building a culture of accountability to reinforce clear expectations, consistent feedback, and empowered decision-making.

   
   

5. Lead with Courage

   Beyond removing the wrong people, it’s about standing firm in your standards. Leadership is about making the right decisions for the future of your business.

Final Thought: Mediocrity Is a Leadership Problem

The most dangerous anchor in your business isn’t a bad product or a weak quarter, it’s a culture that tolerates mediocrity.

“If you want to grow fast, you have to stop dragging anchors.”

So, are you building around your best… or just managing around your weakest?

---

Want more real talk on building high-performing teams, consultative selling, or scaling smart? Subscribe to The Growth Edge email newsletter.