CEO’s Blog – The ‘workaround’ is dead. Long live the ‘small change’

I find it hard to hear customers talk about using workarounds on our platform. The definition of workaround is “a method for overcoming a problem or limitation in a program or system”.

It suggests there is some kind of flaw or glitch within JobWatch that needs managing, and there isn’t.

What people really mean when they talk about using workarounds is that they are used to doing something a certain way, and they don’t want to change. Even when the change is really small.

Or maybe they have been using a different system that takes care of a small part of a process, and they like using that system (even if JobWatch could do it better, faster, with 10 fewer steps).

I understand that – it’s hard to change a habit of a lifetime.

However, we have 40,000 users on our system right now and I would say that 99% of the people using JobWatch are doing so without any so-called workarounds. Businesses tell me that JobWatch is directly responsible for increasing efficiency and profitability. It has been designed to eliminate paperwork and bureaucracy from the life of a mobile worker, and streamline processes, while creating more opportunities for growth – and that’s exactly what it does.

JobWatch has glowing reviews from across the whole spectrum of industries. This is why I am banning the word ‘workaround’ from the BigChange lexicon. I don’t want to hear it any more. There are no limitations, no problems to overcome. The system has been honed and tweaked to be as close to perfection as possible. Instead, I want customers to talk about making a ‘small change’.

By making very minor changes to the way they operate, updating their approach or process very slightly, they can benefit from the wealth of efficiency that we have to offer. The small change doesn’t affect the business at all – the output and results are exactly the same. It’s the just the method – the path to getting to the goal – that alters a tiny bit.

It’s amazing the impact that words have. By moving away from the negative connotations behind ‘workaround’ towards the positive and progressive meaning behind ‘small change’, I feel that we can help customers to embrace the new, and encourage them to evolve with the technology.

All of us could benefit from making small changes. By trying to do things a little differently – or taking someone’s advice over a new approach – we can all evolve and become more successful.