The MWD Trap (and Why Ownership Is the Only Way Out)

Last week I told the story here of how I sold my bicycle to escape Venezuela's entropy and finance my entry into the SAP world. The reaction was positive. Many connected with the emotional part of the sacrifice: "burning the boats" to survive — or simply out of empathy for everything happening in Venezuela.

But today, coffee in hand and with more space to think, I want to talk about what happened after selling the bike. Because that sale didn't just pay for a certification and an entry into SAP. It paid for my identity change at a professional level.

That day I stopped operating as an employee seeking "security" and started operating as an operational partner seeking "systems."

I learned a lesson that goes against everything traditional business school taught you:

To truly grow, you have to work every day to make yourself "dispensable" in operations.

This is where most people fail, falling into two deadly traps:

1. The MWD Trap (Minimum Work Done)

In software we love the MVP (Minimum Viable Product). But in offices, the MWD (Minimum Work Done) is everywhere.

If you've never heard of MWD, that's fine — I invented it (search Google and if you find that definition with that acronym, I'll buy the coffee).

It's the law of least effort. The professional who does just enough to not get fired.

• "I'm not documenting this because I can't be bothered."
• "I'm not improving the process because nobody asked me to."
• The one who comes into meetings, says hi, and nothing else.
• The one you know will complicate anything you ask and is always "busy."

The MWD practitioner becomes a drag. They rust. And when a restructuring (or an AI) comes, they're the first to fall because they provide no differential value.

They're the supporting character who manages to lower the morale of the entire team, because everyone knows they do little to nothing but keep getting paid. And no — this isn't something that only lives in the public sector. You see these individuals in the corporate world too.

2. The "Irreplaceable" Trap (The Black Box)

On the other side is the person who works hard, but wrong. They believe their job security depends on being the only one with the key.

• "I'm not going to teach this, so they always have to call me."
• "If I automate my job, what do I do after?"
• These are the artists of "throwing a wrench in the works."
• Every time you ask them something, you come out with more questions than answers, because they want to seem like they know more than they do but never provide optimal solutions to the problem.

Let me be brutally honest:

If you're irreplaceable in daily operations, you're not a strategic asset. You're a risk liability.

In finance, a liability is a debt. In systems, it's a threat. If the entire operation depends on you being in your chair, you're a Single Point of Failure (in plain terms, a bottleneck). It's like having a critical server with no backup.

And if you're a bottleneck:

1. You can't go on vacation without everything breaking.
2. You become the scapegoat for every incident.
3. You make yourself impossible to promote — because who's going to move you if everything depends on you?

Both the slacker (MWD) and the hoarder (Black Box) end up in the same place: stuck.

The Way Out: Extreme Ownership (Taking Charge)

At Above Average, we operate under a different philosophy. I call it "Always ready to quit."

Watch out: This doesn't mean threatening to leave. It means building systems so robust, documented, and autonomous that if tomorrow you win the lottery, operations continue running perfectly without you.

Some cynic will read this and think: "Documenting everything and giving away my knowledge... that's being the company's doormat, that's being a pushover."

Wrong. That's being a true professional. And being professional isn't about certifications or titles — it's about having this type of attitude.

At the end of the day, you're paid to solve problems, not to kidnap them. If your idea of "rebellion" is hiding information and doing the minimum, I invite you to found your own company and hire people with that mindset. You'll see how fast you go under.

We don't do this out of charity or to be liked by the boss. We do it for market competitiveness. Operating with excellence is the only way to keep your value high. It's strategic selfishness.

What does this look like in practice?

• Obsessive documentation: If a junior asks me something twice, I failed. It means there's no clear manual or video. Documentation isn't bureaucracy — it's legacy.
• Democratization of knowledge: The old school said "information is power." The new school says "shared information is speed." I train my team by example to do what I do.
• Automation: If it's repetitive, a script or AI should do it, not me.

The Value Paradox

Here's the magic: When you make yourself "dispensable" in operational tasks (because you created a system that handles them), you automatically become INDISPENSABLE in strategy.

The company doesn't pay you to press buttons. It pays you to design the machine that presses the buttons. You go from being an operator to being an Architect. And that's where the true value of your professional work lies.

The 2026 Factor: AI Has No Mercy

Why do I insist on this today? Because Artificial Intelligence is coming for the middle. AI is excellent at repetitive tasks (where the MWD lives) and processing retained data (where the Irreplaceable lives).

But AI can't replace Ownership. It can't replace the human who takes charge (the best translation of the concept), who has ethical judgment, who leads teams, and who has the vision to build resilient systems.

The Source Code

When I sold my bike and left Venezuela, I lost my material things and was left with a couple of suitcases. But I took with me the "Source Code": my capacity to learn and to solve problems.

Tomorrow, when you sit down in front of the screen, ask yourself these 2 questions:

1. Am I doing this to avoid being noticed (MWD), or am I doing it to build something that lasts?
2. Am I hoarding knowledge to feel irreplaceable, or am I sharing it to build systems that set me free?

Don't seek to be needed through inefficiency. Seek to be chosen through excellence.

The 99% of the world only consumes. Be part of the 1% that generates value. That's how you build a legacy.

Keep being better than average.

**Pablo / Above Average