New Car, Old Habits: A Cautionary Tale for Workforce Management

Meet Alex.

Alex just bought a brand-new, top-of-the-line electric car. Fully loaded. Voice-activated. Self-driving. Over-the-air software updates. AI assistant. The works.

But before delivery, Alex sent the dealership a very specific customization request:

• A hitching post mount on the front bumper

• Leather reins pre-installed on the steering wheel

• A feeding bucket hook under the hood

• Lantern brackets for nighttime visibility

• A brass nameplate with his horse’s name ("Maple") to rivet onto the hood

• Side stirrups to mount from the driver’s door

• And a wool blanket to drape over the hood so it doesn’t catch a chill overnight

Once delivered, Alex begins every trip with the same routine:

• Pours oats into the feeding bucket

• Brushes the hood with a curry comb

• Walks the car in slow circles around the driveway to loosen it up

• Hangs the lanterns

• Pats the fender gently before climbing in and whispering, “Easy now…”

It’s absurd, right?
But also eerily familiar.

Because this is exactly what happens when companies invest in modern Workforce Management (WFM) platforms, and then try to force them to behave like their old legacy systems.

New Tech, Old Habits

You’ve invested in a cutting-edge WFM solution—complete with AI scheduling, mobile access, automation, and real-time analytics.
But then you wrap it in the same old logic:

• Time-off approvals that require three separate managers

• Manual overrides because “we’ve always double-checked this”

• Outdated rules based on policies from when people tracked time with a pen and clipboard

We can’t move forward if we’re just recreating the past in digital form.

Now more than ever, we need to dare to challenge our status quo.

Stop Managing. Start Enabling.

Workforce Management was built around control.
But today’s environment demands something deeper: Workforce Enablement.

So what does enablement mean?

It means removing friction and empowering people to do their best work.
It means designing systems and processes that help employees deliver value—not just satisfy bureaucracy.
It’s about recognizing that both employer and employee want the same thing: to do great work, efficiently and meaningfully.

But that won’t happen if we simply digitize outdated processes.

Take this real-world example:
A policy written 20 years ago might have required managers to physically sign off paper timesheets. Fast forward to today—many organizations still require digital approval for the same timesheets.
That’s reasonable—until you learn that in some companies, managers are asked to approve their own timesheets. They enter the time, and then go back in to click “Approve.”

Why?
Is it for compliance? Or just to satisfy a checkbox?

This is exactly the kind of pattern we need to examine.
Enablement means asking hard questions. Challenging legacy thinking. Letting go of what no longer adds value.
It’s not rebellion—it’s evolution.

Let’s Break Old Habits Together

I’ve had the privilege of helping organizations of different sizes rethink how they manage, support, and enable their workforce.

The tools we use today are powerful—but they only unlock their full potential when we’re willing to challenge the status quo and reimagine the processes we’ve inherited.

If your team is navigating a new WFM system—or trying to make sense of where to go next— let's have a conversation. Sometimes, a fresh perspective is all it takes to move from replication to real transformation.

📩 Reach out if you want to talk strategy, share your story, or just trade notes on what’s working (and what’s not) in this space.

P.S. My next blog (coming soon) will explore real-world AI and automation use cases in Workforce Enablement—no fluff, just practical ways to simplify, streamline, and strengthen your workforce operations.