Automation Is Not the Enemy: How Founders Can Reclaim Time Without Losing Control
I’ll start with a confession: this is the only thing in my business I don’t automate — writing my own posts.
Which, judging by the feed lately, already makes me part of a dying breed.
Between AI-generated “thought leadership” and the same recycled growth hacks, it’s easy to forget there are still humans behind the logos.
And that’s kind of the point — because automation isn’t the enemy. It’s just badly misunderstood.
The Founder’s Dilemma: Control vs. Capacity
Every founder I know is chasing the same two things: control and capacity.
We want to know everything that’s happening in the business… while also having enough time to actually move it forward.
Most founders start by throwing people at problems. Then they wake up one day to find themselves managing spreadsheets, Slack messages, and status meetings — instead of growth.
The irony is that the more you try to stay in control, the less you actually are.
Because if everything relies on you, you don’t have control — you have dependency.
What Automation Really Does
The word automation still scares a lot of people. It sounds cold, technical, and robotic.
But in reality, it’s just a smarter way of saying: “Let’s stop doing the same thing twice.”
In my world, that means:
Recruitment portals that score candidates automatically.
Airtable CRMs that sync new leads, trigger follow-ups, and update statuses in real time.
Daily email or Slack summaries that tell you what’s moved (and what hasn’t).
Good automation doesn’t remove the human — it supports the human.
It makes information visible, actions consistent, and processes scalable.
You don’t lose control. You finally get clarity.
The Human Element (Where Founders Still Matter)
You can automate tasks, but you can’t automate judgment.
Automation handles the repetitive stuff — the follow-ups, updates, notifications, and reports — so you can spend your brainpower where it matters: on strategy, relationships, and decisions.
The best leaders don’t automate themselves out of relevance.
They automate themselves into focus.
When you’re not constantly firefighting, you start to see the bigger picture again — and that’s when real growth happens.
The Mindset Shift: From “Doing More” to “Designing Better”
Most founders wear “busy” like a badge of honour.
But busyness isn’t productivity — it’s just motion without direction.
The smartest founders I know think like system designers.
They ask:
“How can this happen without me?”
“What could a well-designed system solve permanently?”
That’s when the magic happens — when the business starts to run through you, not because of you.
Automation doesn’t make your business impersonal; it makes it consistent.
And consistency is what builds trust — both internally and with customers.
Where to Start (If You’re Not There Yet)
If you’re curious but not sure where to begin, here’s how I usually help founders get started:
List your repetitive tasks. Anything you or your team do more than twice a week is fair game.
Automate one workflow per month. Start small — maybe lead follow-ups, client onboarding, or weekly reports.
Use no-code tools. Platforms like Make, Zapier, and Airtable mean you don’t need to touch code.
Build visibility first. Dashboards and summaries help you see before you automate decisions.
Keep a human in the loop. Add review or approval steps until you fully trust the workflow.
At troop, we’ve seen founders reclaim 10–20 hours a week through simple automations — not by hiring more people, but by connecting what they already use.
No complex tech stack. Just smart, joined-up thinking.
So No, Automation Won’t Replace You
What it will do is remove the noise.
It will stop you from answering the same questions, chasing the same updates, and drowning in manual work.
Automation won’t make you less human.
It’ll make you a better leader.
Because real control isn’t about doing everything yourself — it’s about building a business that still works when you’re not watching.
And for the record — this post really was written by me.
The bots haven’t won yet.
