Don't always reach for a low-pass filter

At some point when building a business, you’ll have too much information to process. Maybe that’s too many candidates applying for roles, or too many leads to reach out to and build a sales pipeline, or too many PRs to review, or anything else that can be loosely thought of as a pipe (which you shouldn’t allow to get empty).

Usually at this stage the obvious solution is to apply some kind of filter. For example, you could make candidates do a short technical test in order to submit their application; you could ask in bound customers to fill out a form explaining their company size and revenue; or you could make contributors fill out a PR template in order to submit an improvement.

The danger of these solutions is that they often seem to work. If you look at things before and after, you’ll see much fewer low-quality candidates or leads or PRs, and you’ll conclude that it’s working great and leave it in place. But it’s quite possible that you killed the top 5% of your pipeline along with the bottom 5% without even realizing it. Maybe the top candidates refuse to take the technical test because they find it insulting or don’t have the time; maybe your best customers don’t like your attitude and go find somewhere else; maybe your top contributors will go open PRs to a different project instead. And you might never know.