Show Notes
Jason asks: "We started with a simple spreadsheet. Now I've got 'Inventory_final_V3_use_this_one.xlsx' floating around on WhatsApp. Three people updated different versions. We know we need to change, but every time we bring it up, we argue about tools and nothing happens."
In this episode, Scott reframes Jason's problem (it's not about tools—it's leadership), calls out the telltale "we" language (who is the leader?), and shares the doctor story about what happens when no one has power to decide. You'll learn why tool debates are resistance to change in disguise, the "next simplest step" principle, and why leaders can't take hands off the wheel just because they don't know the path.
The bottom line: Stop asking "we." Someone has to make the call. In the absence of another leader, it's you.
Got a business question? Ask Scott here: scotttodd.net/ask
📜 Full Transcript (Click to expand)
Scott Todd (00:00)
Welcome to Fix My Business, the show that helps you fix your business. And we do that by answering others' questions so that you can see where they are struggling and they can get unstuck and so can you. I'm your host, Scott Todd. And today's question comes from Jason. And Jason's question is, we started with a simple spreadsheet. It worked at two or three people. Now I've got
Inventory underscore final underscore V3 underscore use underscore this underscore one dot XLSX floating around on WhatsApp. Three people updated different versions last Tuesday. Nobody knows which one is right. My monthly accounting takes a full week to reconcile.
We know we need to make a change, but every time we bring it up, we argue about the tools and nothing happens.
On the surface, this seems like it's a system problem. But as I think it through, I think it's a leadership problem. I mean, the question at the end here, let's see, we got one, two, three, four. In the last sentence, the word we was used four times.
We bring it up. We argue. Who is we? Who's we? Who's the leader? Someone has to be around to make decisions and take charge, right? I think that this is a leadership problem. Yeah, it's a system problem too, but it's also a leadership problem because if somebody's not sitting down and setting a direction and making a decision and saying, is what we're gonna go do, then you're gonna keep your...
This is never going to solve itself. It's always going to be here. Somebody has to set direction and take charge. That's you. In the absence of another leader, it's you. Now, it reminds me of a situation. I was talking to a doctor years ago, and basically he was not tech at all. This doctor was not high tech. He basically told his team, like, just do whatever. And his
team would struggle like this because nobody had the power. He didn't give somebody the power to make a decision. And I feel like that's what's happening here. I think that, you you said that the entire team knows that it needs to happen, but then it's the actual application of what needs to happen. sounds to me without getting involved with it deeper, it sounds to me like some people are pushing for a real system and some people are just trying to stay on the
Google Sheets or I'm sorry, the spreadsheet there because guess what? People don't like change. So that's what it sounds like to me is that the argument is not coming from which tool to use or how to get this thing implemented. It sounds like you have this resistance of like, is the way that we've always done it. Again, this comes back down to leadership. Now, what I would do is I would look for something simple. What's the next simplest step that I could do? Now,
Most people might want to go and they'll say, well, let's go to this other tool and let's go, let's go do this other thing. But if something's working for you in a spreadsheet, I'm all about simple. Really. I think that you should try to keep your business as simple as possible. And if it works for you in a spreadsheet, but that spreadsheet is just simply an Excel file that you're bouncing around between each other, why not put it online? Why not go to a Google sheet? Why not see if that works? You know, that would be my next step is if you were asking me,
from a technology standpoint, what I would use is I would say, well, let's take the spreadsheet and put it into a Google Sheet. Now, Google Sheet is going to be pretty interesting because guess what? It's updated in real time by multiple people. Multiple people can be in there working. And that might solve the problem. Might make it simple. Or we might find that it doesn't solve the problem because it doesn't lock data in. People can go in and modify old data. That's a problem if that's happening. And I just don't really know.
My advice to you is really think about the next smallest, simplest step. It's not going from an Excel file to some Mac daddy software. It's about going from a spreadsheet to an online shared tool spreadsheet that the team can update and work. And then that also gives you time in order to figure out how you're going to lead this company.
And I think that that's really the bigger, a bigger problem here is the leadership. And I don't mean that as a dig on you because at the end of the day, I always say that if you're not good at something, then you shouldn't be doing it. Somebody else can do it for you. And if you're not good at technology, no worries. Somebody else should be on your team who can take care of the technology. And if you don't have someone on your team who's capable of doing that, you shouldn't go hire just somebody that's, hey, you're, you're in charge of our technology now.
But you can definitely contract that work out. You can go to somebody and say, hey, this is the problem that we're experiencing. How can we solve this problem? Today, we also have the ability of AI. We can take that same problem to AI and say, AI, how do I do this? What are some suggestions on how to do this? And now you've got another resource that's available to you in order to pull and have new ideas on a direction.
The leadership problem here bothers me and it bothers me not just for your scenario, but it bothers me for business owners. See, when business owners find themselves in a situation in which they don't know anything about, they basically give up the leadership. It's like, hey, the leader has the wheel of the car up until the point that they no longer know where they're going. They just take their hands off the wheel and they're like, who wants the wheel now? No.
A leader is going to continue to drive that car. They might give the wheel to somebody through delegation to say, here, this is now your problem. That's OK. But in the absence of somebody, the business still needs someone navigating the wheel, even when the path is unknown.
And we can't let the team argue about what tool we're going to use or not use.
We have to decide. And that's the solution. All right, Jason, it's a great question. I'm glad that you submitted it. And if you have a question, you can head over to scottodd.net forward slash ask. Get your questions answered. And I will see you on our next episode.
Welcome to Fix My Business, the show that helps you fix your business. And we do that by answering others' questions so that you can see where they are struggling and they can get unstuck and so can you. I'm your host, Scott Todd. And today's question comes from Jason. And Jason's question is, we started with a simple spreadsheet. It worked at two or three people. Now I've got
Inventory underscore final underscore V3 underscore use underscore this underscore one dot XLSX floating around on WhatsApp. Three people updated different versions last Tuesday. Nobody knows which one is right. My monthly accounting takes a full week to reconcile.
We know we need to make a change, but every time we bring it up, we argue about the tools and nothing happens.
On the surface, this seems like it's a system problem. But as I think it through, I think it's a leadership problem. I mean, the question at the end here, let's see, we got one, two, three, four. In the last sentence, the word we was used four times.
We bring it up. We argue. Who is we? Who's we? Who's the leader? Someone has to be around to make decisions and take charge, right? I think that this is a leadership problem. Yeah, it's a system problem too, but it's also a leadership problem because if somebody's not sitting down and setting a direction and making a decision and saying, is what we're gonna go do, then you're gonna keep your...
This is never going to solve itself. It's always going to be here. Somebody has to set direction and take charge. That's you. In the absence of another leader, it's you. Now, it reminds me of a situation. I was talking to a doctor years ago, and basically he was not tech at all. This doctor was not high tech. He basically told his team, like, just do whatever. And his
team would struggle like this because nobody had the power. He didn't give somebody the power to make a decision. And I feel like that's what's happening here. I think that, you you said that the entire team knows that it needs to happen, but then it's the actual application of what needs to happen. sounds to me without getting involved with it deeper, it sounds to me like some people are pushing for a real system and some people are just trying to stay on the
Google Sheets or I'm sorry, the spreadsheet there because guess what? People don't like change. So that's what it sounds like to me is that the argument is not coming from which tool to use or how to get this thing implemented. It sounds like you have this resistance of like, is the way that we've always done it. Again, this comes back down to leadership. Now, what I would do is I would look for something simple. What's the next simplest step that I could do? Now,
Most people might want to go and they'll say, well, let's go to this other tool and let's go, let's go do this other thing. But if something's working for you in a spreadsheet, I'm all about simple. Really. I think that you should try to keep your business as simple as possible. And if it works for you in a spreadsheet, but that spreadsheet is just simply an Excel file that you're bouncing around between each other, why not put it online? Why not go to a Google sheet? Why not see if that works? You know, that would be my next step is if you were asking me,
from a technology standpoint, what I would use is I would say, well, let's take the spreadsheet and put it into a Google Sheet. Now, Google Sheet is going to be pretty interesting because guess what? It's updated in real time by multiple people. Multiple people can be in there working. And that might solve the problem. Might make it simple. Or we might find that it doesn't solve the problem because it doesn't lock data in. People can go in and modify old data. That's a problem if that's happening. And I just don't really know.
My advice to you is really think about the next smallest, simplest step. It's not going from an Excel file to some Mac daddy software. It's about going from a spreadsheet to an online shared tool spreadsheet that the team can update and work. And then that also gives you time in order to figure out how you're going to lead this company.
And I think that that's really the bigger, a bigger problem here is the leadership. And I don't mean that as a dig on you because at the end of the day, I always say that if you're not good at something, then you shouldn't be doing it. Somebody else can do it for you. And if you're not good at technology, no worries. Somebody else should be on your team who can take care of the technology. And if you don't have someone on your team who's capable of doing that, you shouldn't go hire just somebody that's, hey, you're, you're in charge of our technology now.
But you can definitely contract that work out. You can go to somebody and say, hey, this is the problem that we're experiencing. How can we solve this problem? Today, we also have the ability of AI. We can take that same problem to AI and say, AI, how do I do this? What are some suggestions on how to do this? And now you've got another resource that's available to you in order to pull and have new ideas on a direction.
The leadership problem here bothers me and it bothers me not just for your scenario, but it bothers me for business owners. See, when business owners find themselves in a situation in which they don't know anything about, they basically give up the leadership. It's like, hey, the leader has the wheel of the car up until the point that they no longer know where they're going. They just take their hands off the wheel and they're like, who wants the wheel now? No.
A leader is going to continue to drive that car. They might give the wheel to somebody through delegation to say, here, this is now your problem. That's OK. But in the absence of somebody, the business still needs someone navigating the wheel, even when the path is unknown.
And we can't let the team argue about what tool we're going to use or not use.
We have to decide. And that's the solution. All right, Jason, it's a great question. I'm glad that you submitted it. And if you have a question, you can head over to scottodd.net forward slash ask. Get your questions answered. And I will see you on our next episode.