Private equity firms often hire commercial leaders based on past roles and industry experience, which may not fit the current needs of the business. This leads to hiring "the memory, not the moment," resulting in poor performance for organic growth initiatives.

To combat their own bias for "proven" playbooks, private equity firms should require potential search partners to propose two creative, non-obvious candidate archetypes as part of the sales process. This forces the search firm to demonstrate innovative thinking beyond simply matching a rigid scorecard.

An operating partner's real value isn't telling operators what to do but sharing the cognitive and emotional burden of leadership. By helping leaders think through the consequences of tough decisions, they provide the clarity and conviction needed to act, something operators often struggle with alone.

PE firms often provide rigid scorecards demanding candidates who've performed the exact same role before. This overlooks creative archetypes and "stretch" candidates with raw skills who could deliver superior results, especially as required skill sets rapidly evolve with new technology like AI.

Clients get the best results from search firms when the relationship is a partnership of peers, not a vendor transaction. A great recruiter pushes back on a hiring manager's flawed assumptions or resume biases, bringing candidates to the table that might otherwise be overlooked.

The number of operating partners in PE has tripled, but this can be counterproductive. Flooding a portfolio company with functional experts often leads to uncoordinated efforts and confuses management teams. The most effective approach is often more targeted, with a principle that sometimes the best action is no action at all.

Delegating the most critical task—initial contact with a potential acquisition target—to the most junior person in the firm is a mistake. To establish immediate credibility and trust, senior partners with decision-making authority should be the ones making the first outreach to founders.

A key distinction for effective operators is between 'helping' (e.g., filling a vacant FP&A role) and 'propping up' (e.g., building the budget for the head of FP&A). Propping up does the manager's job for them, masking underperformance and indicating a bad hire. The goal is talent selection, not rehabilitation.

PE firms often focus on the value creation plan during underwriting but neglect talent assessment. Evaluating the existing team and planning for development or replacement *before* the deal closes leads to better outcomes and avoids later surprises.