Automations that make you less dumb

I don’t build systems because I’m a genius. I build systems because I’m a dumbass sometimes.

I’ve sent emails with “Hi [NAME]” in the greeting.

I’ve sent contracts with the wrong company name in the first line.

I’ve sent open enrollment announcements using last year's dates.

It happens. I'm human.

And there isn't always someone else to check my work.

You may think, “We use [insert tool]. They take care of that.”

Oh yeah?

I once saw a company whose entire handbook still had empty variables in it. “Welcome to ${dir.company.name}” it began.

And it went on like that. For 70 pages.

They'd been using it for years. No one said anything.

Are you sure you never use old school templates?

No contracts in Word?

No copy-pasted performance plans?

No reusable emails that live in your drafts folder “until you get around to it?”

Even if AI writes the copy, it won’t flag a mistake you didn’t read.

The docs that live outside your systems are the ones that slip through.

And sure. Maybe you’re flawless.

But what about your team? Are they?

Your failsafes don’t have to be fancy. People rarely mess up the fancy stuff. They mess up the little things when they think it’s safe to coast.

Systems just make it easier to do it right than wrong.

UX is important, even when the user is yourself.

If I have to check it twice, it’s already a waste of my time.

That’s why I started building tiny systems.

They’re not revolutionary.

They just stop me from doing something dumb before anyone else sees it.

Turns out, building for your dumbest moments isn’t just safer. It’s faster.

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