Software in Service: Simplicity over Systems with Nikki McKnight

Who hasn’t set up a system (or hired someone else to do so) that seems to make your efficiency dreams come true... and that just didn't happen. Or worse? Broke your business.

The alternative? Embracing Simplicity over Systems. Embracing Simplicity over Systems, another core Aggressively Human pillar. How can we be thoughtful about where and how we use systems to be in service, instead of just buying systems as a service.

And who better to bring in our episode is fellow Ops brain Nikki McKnight. Nikki McKnight (she/her) is an operations and systems strategist for creatives who want to develop operations & systems that create industry-leading experiences for their clients. And yes, she’s also Meg’s co-host on the romance podcast First Dates and Soulmates - because successful millennials need hobbies too, right?

In today’s episode, hear our discussion about the role of systems in an “aggressively human” business

- The definition of “systems” you hear 99% of the time and why that’s one of the biggest myths we’re busting

- Why a fully automated customer journey might be the worst thing for your business

- The systems investments we regret and the tools we couldn’t run our businesses without (including Nikki’s Ninja Dashboard)

- Why all three of us embrace a “tool agnostic” approach in how we talk about systems and automations with our clients (and why that helps both our clients and us!).

- How to avoid giving away power - in all its definitions - to software, contractors, or algorithms and keep agency over your business decisions.

- Ways to use automations to prevent (or in some cases add) friction to improve your client experience… but only if you know where and why that’s happening

“A system is … a vehicle for everybody involved in the ecosystem to make a decision. Whether that is me as a business owner, whether that is a member of my team, whether that is a client that I am working with, whether it is a member of my audience that is not yet a client or may not ever be, the whole goal here is how do we make decisions? That's it. Full stop.” - Nikki

About our Guest

Nikki McKnight: http://www.theopsshop.biz/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkimcknight/

Subscribe to FAFO: the systems newsletter for creatives who hate 'em: https://theopsshop.biz/fafo/

Resources Mentioned:

Donella Meadows - Thinking in Systems

Connect with Meg and Jessica

Listen on Spotify

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Meg Casebolt

Jessica Lackey

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aggressivelyhuman.substack.com