Systems’ Gravitational Pull

We’ve been talking about systems to help you to run your business in less time and with less angst. But there is a “dark side” to building systems that isn’t always obvious.

Jonathan and I discuss the gravitational pull of systems—automated and otherwise—to be aware of as you make key decisions about how to run your authority business:

Why the more you invest—time, money and processes—in any system the more it starts to limit your thinking.

The value of choosing your apps/vendors wisely and then going all in for the future vs. frequent platform switching.

Protecting yourself (and your business) if one of your systems goes bad.

How to think about changing and communicating systems when you have clients and buyers using them regularly.

Quotables

“The more code I build up, the more I’ve invested in any particular system, the more it limits my thinking.”—JS

“When my VA of 10 years left…I started to relook at and rethink every single function. Had she not left, I would not have done that.”—RM

“I am super choosy about which platforms I’m going to go all in on, and then I go all in on them. But man, is it frustrating when something changes out from underneath you.”—JS

“The thing that makes some of these apps so wonderful is how comprehensive they are. You just have to ensure that you’re protected if something really bad happens.”—RM

“When I pick a platform, I just suck it up. And I’m like, okay, the thing’s going to evolve and I’m just going to deal with it as it evolves. But also it means that I really learn how to use it…so that I’m really getting my money out of it.”—JS

“You can’t over-communicate in those situations (where your clients experience your systems changes).”—RM

“If we’re talking about a gravitational pull of a system and you’ve got people in the system, there’s no silver bullet to making changes.”—JS

“If you’ve got five people in a group and you change your systems, it’s probably not a big deal. If you have 500, it is a big deal. All the more reason to pick the systems you want to invest in at the very beginning.”—RM