Old model:
New model:
I was talking to one of our partners yesterday, and he said something that made me pause:
“We’re working to automate everything.”
Whoa, buddy. That’s like saying, “I’m planning to hit the gas while my plane’s nose-diving into the ground.” Sure, you’ll move faster. Right into the crater.
Automation Is Not a Fix. It’s a Multiplier.
If your process is broken, clunky, bloated, or just plain dumb… automation doesn’t help. It just makes the failure faster, bigger, and harder to recover from. Think of it like this: You’re in a death spiral. You add power. The wings shear off, the tail explodes, and the whole thing ends in a flaming debris field that used to be your operations team.
There’s even a book on this. It’s called “How Pilots Die.” And a lot of MSPs are following the exact same flight plan.
The Playbook That’s Saved My Ass (More Than Once)
Here’s what I do before I ever hit “automate” on anything:
- Process First. Always.
Write it down. Walk it through. Make sure it actually works and your team is doing it the same way every time.
- Add the KPIs.
You need three:
- Is it getting done?
- Is it getting done right?
- How fast is it getting done?
Without those, you’re flying blind.
- Slash and Burn.
Before you optimize, you simplify. Question everything.
- Why is this step here?
- What happens if I kill it?
- Can I get the same result with less?
Don’t be afraid to cut too deep. You can always add it back. But if you don’t cut enough, the bloat will kill you.
- Optimize.
Now that it’s lean, tighten the bolts. Tweak the timing. Clean up the edges. Don’t skip this. A simplified process isn’t always efficient—it’s just less messy.
- Accelerate.
NOW you add horsepower. Not during automation.
Get caught up. Get some altitude. Give your team space to breathe. You can’t build and fly at the same time. Especially not when you’re chasing bugs down a CI/CD rabbit hole.
- THEN—And Only Then—Automate.
You’ve simplified. You’ve optimized. You’ve accelerated. Now you can plug in the scripts, workflows, triggers, and shiny new tools. And it actually works. Because you’re not automating chaos—you’re amplifying clarity.
Oh, and One More Thing: Dunning Cycle, Baby
This whole thing? It’s not a one-time fix. It’s a Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle on repeat.
- Plan: Map the process. Define the KPIs. Think through your cuts.
- Do: Execute the plan. Make the changes. Monitor the mess.
- Check: Measure the results. Did the KPIs move? Did something break?
- Act: Adjust. Fine-tune. Lock in the gains—or reverse what didn’t work.
Every time a process breaks, stalls, or starts bloating again?
You go back to this. It’s the rinse-repeat cycle of not crashing your MSP.
Final Thought: Don’t Be the Guy Who Crashed a Jet with a Broken Checklist
Automation is powerful. But only if the thing you’re automating is already working.
Otherwise, you’re just engineering your own failure.
Faster. Louder. More expensively.
Stick to the playbook.
Cut deep.
Optimize hard.
Climb before you code.
Your business (and your clients) will thank you.
