The Waterline Model
by Molly Graham • Founder, Glue Club at Glue Club (Formerly Facebook, Google, Quip, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative)
Molly Graham is a scaling expert who led early culture and mobile initiatives at Facebook, helped scale Google's comms team, and served as COO at Quip and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. She now runs Glue Club, a community for startup leaders navigating hyper-growth.
🎙️ Episode Context
Molly Graham shares her battle-tested frameworks for navigating hyper-growth, drawn from her experiences at Facebook and Google. She discusses how leaders must scale themselves by 'giving away their Legos,' how to diagnose team issues using the 'Waterline Model,' and provides actionable rules for goal setting and career management.
Problem It Solves
Prevents leaders from incorrectly blaming interpersonal conflict when the root cause is actually organizational ambiguity.
Framework Overview
Imagine a team as a boat. Problems below the waterline sink the boat. Leaders often dive deep (scuba) to fix 'people problems' first, but they should snorkel first. Start at the surface with structural issues (goals/roles) before addressing interpersonal dynamics.
🧠 Framework Structure
Snorkel before you scuba: Check struc...
Clarify Goals: Does the team know wha...
Clarify Roles: Does everyone know who...
When to Use
When there is friction, confusion, or underperformance within a team.
Common Mistakes
Assuming a conflict is due to 'bad culture' or 'difficult people' when typically (80% of the time) it is due to unclear expectations.
Real World Example
Graham often finds that when teams are fighting, simply asking 'What number were you hired to drive?' reveals that no one actually knows their specific accountability.
Your only goal as a manager, if you do nothing else, is clear roles and clear expectations.
— Molly Graham