What Nailed It! Has Taught Me About Software Implementations
Nailed It! is a baking competition on Netflix where amateurs must replicate absurdly elaborate dessert creations by professional chefs, bakers and confectioners. While a software implementation and pirate-themed glazed donuts may not seem to have much in common, baking fails and user adoption fails both can leave you feeling as deflated as a cake that didn't rise.
Clear Instructions Are Often Not Enough
The Nailed It! contestants are shown what their end product should be and provided with a recipe, yet a goopy mess is often presented to the judges. Having a vision and a plan is critical, but you also need the experience and guidance of experts who have managed the complexity of getting a group of people to incorporate new processes into their daily work.
You may have documentation and training materials, but user adoption goes beyond completing configuration steps. It needs flexible pacing and careful timing to make information digestible. Project pace and timing are skills developed through experience so that "Go Live" is not a frosted, misshapen mound vaguely resembling a tiered cake.
Ideal Timelines Only Make for Good Television
Two hours is not enough time to bake, frost and decorate anything with no room for error. You may have heard of some implementation that went from kickoff to go-live in six weeks, but hoping for that as your strategy doesn't help anyone.
A sense of urgency certainly has benefits - it helps people stay motivated and creative solutions are frequently born under pressure. But remember that priority doesn't always mean we needed it yesterday. It means it needs to be done with intention. I don't base timelines on magical implementations when all the stars aligned. I design projects with your specific strengths and challenges in mind so we can launch sustainable solutions.
It May Not Be Perfect or Pretty, But It Sure Tastes Good
At the Nailed It! end presentation, judges also taste the end result. Some of the worst looking cakes are still quite tasty. When trying to please your users, step back and think about what problem we were trying to solve. Did we solve it? If yes, let's chalk that up as a win. Pretty good is pretty good.
Laying out acceptance criteria and planning for regular evaluation prevents the skepticism and resistance that can seep into any endeavor involving time commitments from groups of people.
Finding Your Recipe for Success
Evaluating technology solutions and processes can feel like the options are limited to DIY over-simplified platforms or behemoth systems requiring armies to implement. The aim is to meet you where you are now, with the skills, people and technology available to you.
You don't need Great British Bakeoff skills to make good cupcakes, but if you need cupcakes for 200 people, you might want to call in some help.
Facing a software implementation that feels overwhelming? Struggling with a system that never quite worked as promised? Many organizations find themselves caught between knowing their current approach isn't working and lacking the bandwidth for large-scale transformation projects.
The Process Discovery Bootcamp was designed specifically for this situation. Before committing to new software or massive implementations, we help your team get on the same page about what's actually not working and why. Through structured interviews and collaborative workshops, we map your real workflows, identify where current systems create friction and define what success actually looks like for your organization.
Sometimes you need the full implementation support - spatulas and oven mitts at the ready. Other times, you need clarity about whether you're following the wrong recipe entirely. Let's figure out which one together.
Contact me at anne.choe@ace4arts.com to discuss software implementations, system re-evaluations or scheduling a Process Discovery Bootcamp.