Do you need a new tool for [whatever]?

Like many of us, agency owners can fall into the trap of believing that tools solve problems.

The reality is that we use tools to implement the processes that solve problems.

Rather than falling in love with the latest and greatest, start by understanding what you want the tool to do for you.

Whether you are considering switching project management systems or implementing a new time tracking program or just exploring some new innovation you just heard about, the advice that Gini and Chip have to offer in this week’s episode will help.

Key takeaways

* Chip Griffin: “We all think the tools are going to make a giant difference. The reality is they don’t.”

* Gini Dietrich: “It’s less about the tool and more about how you can implement it with your team and whether or not you’re actually going to use it.”

* Chip Griffin: “Figure out what it is that you actually are trying to solve for and then find the tool from therem as opposed to falling in love with the tool and then saying, okay, let’s figure out how to make this work.”

* Gini Dietrich: “Many clients have their own systems, so they’re not going to use yours too.”

Recommended

* Choosing software tools for your agency

View Transcript

The following is a computer-generated transcript. Please listen to the audio to confirm accuracy.

Chip Griffin: Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Agency Leadership Podcast. I’m Chip Griffin.

Gini Dietrich: I’m Gini Dietrich.

Chip Griffin: Today I’m gonna shoot down those tools that are floating overhead in a giant balloon right after this.

You know, sometimes it feels to me like the tools that we use as agencies are kind of like all these objects that are getting shot down, over the skies of Canada and the United States. We don’t know what some of them are. Maybe it’s a weather balloon, maybe it’s a Chinese spy balloon. Then there are some weird cylinders that are putting out weird signals.

I mean, who knows? Maybe it’s ETs, but we don’t know what they are, but we’re fascinated by them, and I think that’s how agencies look at a lot of their tools.

Gini Dietrich: I mean, to be fair, both subjects are fascinating and fun to explore.

Chip Griffin: They are, but you know, I, a lot of the conversations I have with agency owners, at some point we end up talking about, oh, what tools should I use for this?

What tools should I use for that? Right. Have you seen this one? This one looks cool. Yeah. And, and I think that there’s not a lot of good clarity when it comes to tools because we all think the tools are going to make a giant difference. The reality is they don’t.

Gini Dietrich: They don’t. No. No they don’t. And I’m guilty of this as well.

Like somebody, somebody said to me, you’ve gotta check out Notion. And I checked out Notion, and I love Notion. I haven’t been able to implement it internally, but I use it personally because I love Notion. But I’m the same way, like trying to find, always checking out different tools. I mean, ChatGPT came out and I was one of the first ones on there trying to figure it out and check it out.