Ep 142: Why Your Team Hates Your New System
(And What to Do About It)
SUMMARY
You just spent weeks researching project management systems. You invested time and money into the perfect solution. You rolled it out to your team with excitement. And then... crickets. Nobody's logging in. Nobody's using it. Your "game-changing" system is sitting there collecting digital dust.
Sound familiar?
If you've ever experienced the frustration of implementing a new tool only to watch it fail spectacularly, you're not alone. But here's what most leaders miss: your new system isn't failing because it's the wrong tool. It's failing because you're leading systems instead of leading people.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
⚡️ System failures are people problems disguised as technology problems. Your new tool isn't failing because it's wrong—it's failing because you forgot to lead the people who need to use it. Leaders get excited about shiny tools and forget about team habits, creating a graveyard of unused software.
⚡️ Proximity to natural habitat is the secret to adoption. Don't ask for radical change when incremental adjustments will work. The closer your new system is to their current workflow (10% adjustment vs. 80% overhaul), the higher your adoption rate will be. Work with existing habits, not against them.
⚡️ Implementation is a leadership journey, not a launch event. Involve your team in the decision, explain why repeatedly, identify champions for pilot launches, and work alongside them through the transition. Make it safe to struggle, celebrate adoption, and provide ongoing support even when they say they don't need it.
NOTABLE QUOTES
💬 "So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work." - Peter Drucker
💬 "Meet them where they are, not where you want them to be. The secret sauce to getting people to actually log in and use what you've invested in is proximity to their natural habitat."
💬 "Your new system isn't failing because it's the wrong tool. It's failing because you're asking people to change too much, too fast without their input and without remembering that these are real people you're leading."
EPISODE RESOURCES
⚡️Download free frameworks and tools at dustinpead.com/free
⚡️Learn more about the "implement with you" philosophy at dustinpead.com
⚡️ Follow @dustinpead on social media for daily insights on leading creative teams
⚡️ Subscribe to my weekly newsletter here
TRANSCRIPT
You just spent a lot of time and money on a project management system or a different software to solve your team's latest problem. But here's the thing. Your team hasn't even logged in once. Does that sound familiar? That's what we're going to talk about on today's episode. Why your team hates your new system and what to do about it. Let's get into it. Taking creatives from chaos to clarity. Welcome back to Creativity Made Easy. This is the podcast where we transform creative chaos into clarity. This is a podcast for all creatives, designers, photographers, writers, videographers, all creative entrepreneurs and agencies who are seeking practical, actionable strategies to grow their creative business. I'm your host, Dustin Pead, creative process consultant. I own and operate Chief Creative Consultants out of Atlanta, Georgia, and I help creatives know themselves, their process and their teams so they can create with efficiency as they scale together. I wanna start us off with this quote from Peter Drucker. He said, "So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work." Doesn't it seem like that? It seems like that if we have someone that we report to and it often will feel like that by the complaints that we hear from those that report to us. And when I started working with a client of mine, they were using Trello and we went and took them from the Trello project management to the Asana project management system. They started with Trello, right? We worked, it worked out okay for them for their solo work, but as the team grew, they needed better workflow for the video production. And so we made a shift to Asana. It wasn't totally radical. It brought them close to where he already was in Trello, but allowed room for the team to grow with them. And the result was that the team actually adopted it because it fit in the natural flow as they grew as an organization. So the real problem is that you're leading systems instead of leading people. System failures are people problems disguised as technology problems, right? We go after it and after it and after it thinking that every bit of technology and every piece of software is going to solve our problems, but they're actually people problems, right? And it's not technology problems. The leaders get excited about the shiny new tools and forget team habits. And that ends up creating this tool graveyard, right? Where you have all these systems and software piled up that you're never gonna use. And the reason is because they never consulted with the end users before jumping head in. They just thought, oh, this looks amazing. We have to have this. You think that as the leader and we jump right in. So you have to remember first before we solve this problem that your team works with people, not just with software. It's people that are running the day to day operations. So meet them where they are, not where you want them to be. We talk about this all the time in making our best ideas and best processes and systems come to life. The secret sauce to making them a success and getting these people to actually log in and use the things that you spent so much time and money on is proximity to their natural habitat, right? Don't ask for radical change or for some incremental adjustments, right? You need to be able to bring it as close as possible to where they are. You can do that, right? With things like an API integration instead of using a new platform, right? Instead of we could go from Trello to Asana, right? But we're not going to go from Trello to a full on AI, maybe even Trello to Notion, right? A full on system for them to use. And the old habits, obviously they die hard, right? So let's work with the habits, not against them. Ask yourself and your team, what are they already doing that we can build upon? But you can't just roll this thing out and expect everybody to jump in, even if you did bring it to them in proximity. Implementation isn't a launch event, it's a leadership journey. So before we roll these things out, we wanna involve our team in the decision. We wanna explain why this change matters. This generation more than ever needs to know why we are making the changes that we are making. They need to connect with why. And for the older generation, it may seem frustrating that we have to do that. But if you can take a minute to do that and consistently do that with consistent messaging throughout, you're going to understand that your adoption rate is going to be so much higher. So before we roll it out, we're going to have a discussion with our team and we're going to explain why, right? We're going to actually have a conversation, a two way piece of communication, not just us talking to them, but getting feedback from them as well. Right. We want to have some champions in that room, right? Who can champion that pilot launch, but you definitely want to have a conversation and hear them where they are. If you can hear where they're at and you can meet them where they're at, then you will have a whole lot more success in the long run. You can begin to celebrate that adoption all the way through completion. A great way to do this is to implement the "with you" philosophy where you can work alongside them through the shift of the new software. Look, the reason that your team hates your new software is because you never considered them and you forgot that you actually lead people, not just systems. So that's how we're going to change it moving forward. We're going to remember that we lead people and we're going to bring it closer to them. So what do we do now with this? The proximity test is number one. How close is what I'm wanting to bring in? How close is this to their natural current flow? And the only way to do that is to map out their current workflow first. Then we're gonna evaluate, is this a 10% adjustment or an 80% overhaul? It can be 10, it can be 80, but you have to know and prepare them adequately in order to have a successful launch with your software. And lastly, choose the tools that meet them where they are. Secondly, pilot this thing before a full rollout. So many times I see leaders that go, "This is it, we've done everything, this is research, boom, there's no turning back now, this is what we're gonna do," and they kind of bullhead their way through the whole thing. Start with just two to three team champions and gather some real feedback on a smaller scale before going out. That way you can work out all the bugs, you can work out, and now I know we need to step in more here, we need to lean out less here, and you'll have all that information at your fingertips, which is gonna create champions for you when you do the larger rollout.Lastly, just to remember, like we said, throughout this whole episode, lead people first, systems second. Communicate the why clearly and repeatedly all the way throughout until it becomes second nature for your team to use that system. Provide training and ongoing support at every opportunity, even if they say they don't need it. Provide it, provide it, provide it. And make it a safe environment for them to struggle with during this transition time. "Hey, we're all learning together. Yes, let's learn what you're learning so that we can all learn alongside you as well." Your new system, again, it's not failing because it's the wrong tool. It's failing because you're asking the people to change too much, too fast without their input and without remembering that these are real people that you're leading. So meet them where they are, involve them in the how you're gonna execute these things. Lead the people first and the system change will follow. Follow me at dustinpead.com and on social media at @dustinpead. Next week we're gonna get into the 79% problem. Why creative agencies are over-servicing their clients and losing money while doing it. We're gonna talk about boundaries and SOPs and how to stop giving away your work for free. I'll talk to you next time on Creativity Made Easy.