Episode #88: You Probably Aren't the Right Person to Create Systems

You’re probably not the right person to do the work of documenting all your systems.  Why?  Because you’re too close to them and too busy.  Think about it.  Systems are just documented processes and every time a person gets good at a process they find little shortcuts to do the work well.  Sometimes those shortcuts are technological (the cache of your computer jumps you to the right page or a cookie remembers something for you) and as a result when someone tries to repeat a process there are obvious simple things that aren’t listed in the system.  It could be passwords you keep on a sticky note or a website you use to convert a file before you work on it.  Things like this are common.

Then there’s the time value.  Remember that if you want a process to be repeatable by someone else you’re already admitting that it’s something you shouldn’t be spending time on.  Documenting that process is even less effective use of your time… until you scale that across your whole company.

Today’s cast is a hard look at why you aren’t better systematized in your company and what you can do about it.