Something I have had to remind myself again and again: designing systems for knowledge work is very different from designing them for industrial work.

The trap I often fall into as a systems builder is the urge to optimize every single step. It feels great in the moment, ngl

Lots of dopamine from tidying up the process, but the outcomes rarely match the effort.

Especially in creative functions like sales and marketing, people need space to bring their own personalities, their quirks, their way of connecting.

A system that chokes this out is worse than no system at all.

Too much order, and there’s no room to breathe.
Too much chaos, and you get a lot of activity but no meaningful outcomes.

I think I have found my sweet spot in building guardrails, not scripts.

More of enabling the team with a compass rather than a map.

Basically something clear enough to guide, loose enough to allow improvisation.

The joy of system building is in optimization, but the usefulness of a system is in how it feels for the people using it.