Your Ops Leader Shouldn’t Be a Subject Matter Expert | They don’t need to know the tool—they need to know how the whole machine runs.

There’s a misconception in a lot of organizations that the person running operations should be a subject matter expert.
The reality? That’s often the last thing you want.

An effective operations leader doesn’t need to know the ins and outs of every tool, process, or technical system.

What they need to understand is how everything fits together—and how to keep it running under pressure.

At SHIELD Illinois, I Oversaw 12 Molecular Diagnostic Labs—and Had Never Heard of a PCR Machine

We were building and running 12 CLIA-certified, high-complexity molecular testing labs.
We stood up a next-gen sequencing lab.
We moved thousands of potentially infectious saliva samples across three states—every day—by chartered plane, internal drivers, and third-party couriers.

I had never worked in diagnostics.
I wasn’t trained in lab science.
I couldn’t tell you how PCR worked when I started.

And none of that mattered.

Because my job wasn’t to know the science.
It was to build the system.
Spot the risks.
Make the tradeoffs.
And keep the entire operation moving, safely and on time.

Subject Matter Expertise Can Be a Limiting Lens

Sometimes, deep expertise makes people too cautious.
Or too focused on a single function.
Or unable to challenge the way things have always been done.

Operations leaders have to move between teams, timelines, and tradeoffs without getting stuck in one swim lane.

  • They don’t need to write the code
  • They don’t need to validate the lab method
  • They don’t need to fly the plane
  • But they do need to know how those things interact—and how failure in one affects all the others

The Real Skill Is Systems Thinking

Great ops leaders see structure—where others see complexity.
They’re not solving one team’s problem.
They’re solving for the system.

That means:

  • Understanding priorities
  • Designing for edge cases
  • Modeling failure
  • Making fast decisions with incomplete information
  • Building trust with SMEs while holding accountability

They don’t need to know how the machine is built.
They need to know when it’s humming and when it’s seizing up.

Build for Execution, Not Comfort

It’s tempting to promote the high-performer from engineering, science, or finance to run ops.

But that’s not operations.
That’s function-specific management.

True operational leadership isn’t about being the smartest person in the room.
It’s about being the one who keeps the room functioning under pressure.

Your ops leader doesn’t need to be a domain expert.
They need to be a system expert.
And when the pressure’s on, that’s who you’ll want in the chair.

Len MusielakComment