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#15 Old Playbooks Don’t Win New Games

#15 Old Playbooks Don’t Win New Games

In this edition of The Path Less Traveled, I’m sharing two lessons that have reshaped how we lead and grow: first, the power of curiosity as a lifelong advantage—and why losing it could cost you your business. Second, a behind-the-scenes look at our $15.9M facility redesign, and how removing bottlenecks before they break you is the key to scaling with intention.

Christopher Hoffmann
January 05, 2026 • Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes

In Today’s Newsletter

The powerful effect of curiosity from leaders
“Things you should do…
Founding Sponsors
Maximizing efficiency: our $15.9M facility design
Favorite Tweets from the past week

All of your leadership problems. Solved with the right hire. Uncommon Elite.

My friend and former Army 160th pilot, Christian Ruf, is helping business owners build high-performing teams by placing special operations veterans - think Navy SEALS, Army Rangers, Green Berets - in senior operations roles inside of businesses like yours. Check out his business, Uncommon Elite, and let him know that Chris sent you.

What’s on my mind?

Don’t Let Your Curiosity Die—Or Your Business Might Go With It

There’s a trap many of us fall into as we advance in our careers: we get comfortable.

We’ve seen a lot. Solved big problems. Built systems that work. And naturally, when faced with a new challenge, we lean on what’s worked in the past.

But here’s the danger: the playbooks that got us here aren’t always the ones that will take us forward—especially in a world changing as fast as ours.

I’ve noticed this in myself. As I’ve grown into my role as a business leader and operator, I’ve had to fight a quiet erosion of my learning agility. That hunger to explore. That mindset of “I wonder what would happen if...” That drive to pull something apart and understand how it works.

That mindset is called curiosity—and it’s the foundational trait of every great leader I know.

Curiosity is what helps you:

Learn new things faster than your competitors
Uncover opportunities hidden beneath the surface
Think differently when your old solutions stop working
Embrace technologies and systems that can unlock scale

And in 2026, curiosity isn’t just nice to have. It’s critical.

Especially with Artificial Intelligence. If you’re a business leader who wants to navigate AI wisely—whether to improve marketing, automate scheduling, optimize your operations, or deliver a better customer experience—you cannot afford to stay at a distance.

You have to get close to the tools. Use them yourself. Watch how they work. Make mistakes. Ask dumb questions. Talk to people building with them. Read what thought leaders are saying. Look at how others in our industry are applying these innovations.

Because while AI can seem like just another buzzword, it’s rapidly becoming the operating system underneath every part of your business—from the phones to the trucks to the spreadsheets and P&Ls.

If you rely solely on old instincts and outdated solutions, you’ll miss what’s next.

The antidote? Stay curious. Ask “why” again. Ask “what if” again. Spend time learning. Not in theory, but through real-world, hands-on engagement.

Your curiosity is a business asset.

Guard it.

Fuel it.

And never let it die—because if it does, your business may follow.

-Chris

My Great, Great Grandmother with her late husband. Very cool to come across these photos in connection with collecting & restoring our family’s tower clocks.

Highly recommend this family activity — very fun to search for the moon, stars and planets with this telescope!

“Hey ChatGPT… add Santa to my front door security cam photo” — best surprise for the kiddos.

My daughter crushing her cowgirl hat look.

We didn’t let the horrible (non-existent) snow conditions stop us from having a good time!

Things you should…

1. Stop Saying “It’s Slow Season”
Momentum is a habit. So is making excuses.

2. Send One Thank-You Text to a Team Member
Recognition beats raises when it comes to culture.

3. Clean Out One Service Truck With a Field Pro
A cluttered van is usually a cluttered install.

Can you do me a favor?

To help me create the best content for you, can you answer this quick (4 question) survey? I promise it won’t take more than 30 seconds :)

The Path Less Traveled - Founding Sponsors

Founding Sponsors… that WE USE in our companies.

When I wanted to launch The Path Less Traveled, I didn’t just want to take any sponsor who would write a check.

On the contrary - I continue to turn down a ton of sponsor inquiries because of one reality: I want my sponsorships to be authentic, and be companies that I work with AND believe in.

Software: ServiceTitan - THE leading software platform for residential and commercial service providers; to be blunt - there is no alternative for scaled enterprise platforms - and that is why it is incredibly rare to find any company over $100M who is NOT using ServiceTitan.

Agentic AI: Netic - Netic has built transformative AI tools that execute end-to-end workflows across speech, text, and data, powering entire functions inside of HB Solutions Group. Elevating the customer experience while reducing friction and cost.

Consumer Financing: GreenSky Home Improvement - helps HB Solutions Group to delight our customers AND grow our business by giving us one of the most powerful tools we can possess: the ability to increase our customers’ buying power.

Final thought: we publish TPLT on/around the 1st and 15th of each month, and we will incorporate a deeper dive into our relationship with each of the partners above on the release on/around the 15th while including this abbreviated section on the release on/around the 1st of each month.

¹ The views and opinions expressed here are owned by The Path Less Traveled and its author and may not reflect the views of GreenSky®

CEO: Growth Mindset

Maximizing Efficiency: Our $15.9M Facility Redesign

One of the most important responsibilities of any leader is to constantly identify what’s slowing down your business—and fix it.

For us, that meant stepping back and realizing that our existing facility had become a constraint. It was limiting our growth, hurting our efficiency, and creating unnecessary friction for the team. So, we made a big decision: invest in a $15.9 million facility redesign that would eliminate today’s bottlenecks and position us for the next decade of growth.

Step Function Thinking

When you expand a facility, it’s not a linear investment. It’s a step function. You take a big leap forward—incurring a sizable cost—but that cost should remain relatively flat as the business grows into it. The goal is to get ahead of your growth curve, not constantly play catch-up.

This new facility is exactly that: a long-term, strategic bet. At over 106,000 square feet, it more than doubles our previous footprint and is designed to scale in phases alongside our growth forecasts.

Removing Bottlenecks

We worked with enVista to evaluate our warehouse from the ground up—everything from inventory layout to labor modeling to future-state process flows. A few pain points stood out:

Limited dock space causing delays and inefficiency for our field teams.
Disorganized returns and staging areas creating friction and lost inventory.
Lack of standardized layout leading to wasted time and excess labor costs.

The new design solves all of that. Our layout now includes:

A fully segmented warehouse with defined areas for every department.
Dedicated staging, sorting, and return zones for faster turnaround and fewer errors.
Kanban-based bin systems designed for growth through 2030.

Building for the Future

This isn’t just a bigger warehouse—it’s a smarter one.

We’re eliminating our reliance on vendor-managed inventory and putting in place systems that give us total control. We’re also investing in a modern warehouse management system (WMS) that’s tailored to our operations and will unlock productivity gains over time.

And we’ve planned the space not just for today, but for the business we’ll be running five and ten years from now. The redesign allows us to expand internal capacity in clearly defined phases, tied to forecasted demand.

The Lesson for Operators

Growth creates friction. That’s a good thing. But the best leaders don’t wait until their systems break—they find and remove the friction before it limits their momentum.

Our facility redesign is about more than square footage. It’s about staying disciplined in removing constraints, investing ahead of the curve, and creating a business that can scale without sacrificing speed or quality.

If you want to grow, go find your bottleneck—and get to work removing it.

This Week’s Favorite Tweets

Friends of The Path Less Traveled

Who are the VENDORS that fuel our success?

MARKETING

Choosing a marketing agency that is both (1) competent and (2) CARES about your specific business is hard. Over the last 5 years, I have become great friends with the founder of RYNO Strategic Solutions, Chris Yano, and can say with confidence that his agency is among the few that I would trust with my own brands. If you are searching for a partner, send a note to Jeff Bowab at [email protected] and tell him that I sent you.

PAYROLL & HR

Inova Payroll & HR has been a partner to our companies for over 10 years. They have provided us with a payroll technology platform that has been able to keep pace with the demands of our fast-growing organization (now serving team members across 4 states). Inova’s platform works seamlessly with our CRM, ServiceTitan, and with our accounting back-end, Sage Intacct.

COACHING & TRAINING

If there is one organization - perhaps more than any other - that has fueled our growth over the last 10 years… that organization would be Nexstar Network. I like to say that Nexstar Network has built & refined a “process playbook” that touches on so many facets of our business. Don’t try and re-create the wheel… come and learn from the best. Reach out to my friend Kara Schuster at [email protected] and tell her that I sent you.

#grateful for the “Friends of TPLT” sponsors in this section

Hey…I could use your help connecting with like-minded business leaders:

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