David Jenyns breaks down why teams ignore systems into three excuses: not knowing how, not knowing it's their job, and not wanting to. He offers fixes: one-click documentation, AI tools that assign ownership clearly, and strong culture that makes people conform to group norms, like a 1942 elevator experiment showed.
One of the core ideas as you look to build your systemized business, the book deals a lot to do with removing key excuses as to why systems and process aren't followed and why team members aren't doing what they should be doing. So when you categorize a lot of the excuses that pop up, I find it can fall into these 3 categories really well. The first one is "I didn't know how." That's the common excuse that a team member will give for why they haven't done something. "I didn't know how to do it. You didn't tell me." The other most common one I've got here is, "I didn't know it was my job." There's a lack of clarity around who needs to do what by when. The last one is, I don't want to, which is more challenging. Oftentimes quite a few things fall under that bucket. Sometimes it can be hidden with I don't have time or I don't have the resources, I can't prioritize this, but I don't know how, I didn't know it was my job, or I don't want to are these three big excuses that get in the way of building your systemized business. And the Systems Champion book is— I'm trying to get the systems champion to lay a foundation and a framework that removes the excuses before they even become excuses. And there are 3 key areas that I've found, if you get these right, almost knock those excuses on the head before they even become excuses. The first one is documentation. If you get rock-solid documentation that's never more than one click away, and it is clear, and it is associated for every task, you can kill the "I don't know how" excuse. Because the first time they say it, you say, "Here's the process. Follow this next time." Now you know how. The second one, we can get rid of the, "I didn't know it was my job," with the right tools. We want to create this accountable, transparent way of working that leverages AI, that clearly identifies who is doing what by when. So there is no excuse. There is no, I didn't know it was my job because it's obvious to everybody and anybody can see it. The last piece, which is the I don't want to, and there's a bit to this one. Initially, I was going to write The Systems Champion just about the culture piece, but I realized The Systems Champion actually needs to nail the three. Culture, I was just working on the chapter the other week and I share the story In the book, in 1942, they ran this experiment where they had 11 actors step into an elevator and face the wrong way, and then the unsuspecting subject on one of the floors would step in and they would automatically turn and face the same way even though it was the wrong way because everybody else in there was doing it. Why? Because everybody wants to fit in. Like, they will act in a way that matches the culture inside the organization. The cultural drive to do what everybody else is doing is extremely strong. A big part of this culture piece is the recruitment and the onboarding and making sure that we induct the team member so that when a team member hops into the elevator that is your business, they're facing the right way. And they'll do that because you set the right culture. That was a clip taken from our Systems Champion Academy, which is the world's first and only community designed for systems champions and business owners to help them build the business of their dreams. We really focus on getting your processes done, getting the team on board, and building it so that the business is free of the business owner. To find out more, head over to systemology.com/systemschamp and I'm looking forward to seeing you in the community.
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