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b'The Nitty-Gritty:\\n\\n\\n\\n* How ScaleSpark founder Susan Boles uses software to solve capacity problems for her clients and help them scale up* Why she starts with a software audit before making any changes\\u2014and how you can too* What she looks for when considering what software options to go with* The first step to getting started with new software (it\\u2019s not what you\\u2019d expect!)\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\nWhen I first got serious about building a team and documenting our business systems\\u2026\\n\\n\\n\\n\\u2026I signed up for Asana.\\n\\n\\n\\nIf you\\u2019re not familiar, Asana is a project management system that tons of people were raving about at the time. They claimed how organized it made them. they said how wonderful it was to have a checklist of everything that needed done in front of them. They loved being able to assign deadlines and delegate tasks.\\n\\n\\n\\nThat all sounded marvelous.\\n\\n\\n\\nBut my experience of Asana was\\u2026 not so great.\\n\\n\\n\\nNo matter how hard I tried to \\u201cbe good\\u201d\\u2014check off all the boxes, stick to my deadlines, and process my tasks, I\\u2019d end up falling behind and ignoring the whole system.\\n\\n\\n\\nMy team could use Asana. But I couldn\\u2019t.\\n\\n\\n\\nAnd I felt like a bad business owner. I felt like I wasn\\u2019t good enough, that I wasn\\u2019t disciplined enough, like I just couldn\\u2019t hack it.\\n\\n\\n\\nDramatic? Maybe but it seemed like Asana was what worked for everyone I respected and I just couldn\\u2019t seem to get on board.\\n\\n\\n\\nLate last year, Marie Poulin\\u2014who you just heard from in Episode 234\\u2014shared that she\\u2019d switched her project management (and practically everything else) over to an app called Notion.\\n\\n\\n\\nIt turned out that Notion (why yes, that\\u2019s our referral link) allowed for way more than checking things off a list and organizing tasks by project. It was purposefully non-linear, adaptable, and infinitely customizable.\\n\\n\\n\\nI was intrigued.\\n\\n\\n\\nWe took a look\\u2026 and we were hooked.\\n\\n\\n\\nNow, it\\u2019s no surprise that my team can use Notion. They\\u2019re a bunch of a project management badasses. But the fact that I can use it? Well, that was a surprise.\\n\\n\\n\\nWhat Notion has made me realize is that software doesn\\u2019t just work on its own.\\n\\n\\n\\nIt works with you\\u2014or it doesn\\u2019t work.\\n\\n\\n\\nAsana is great. But it\\u2019s not great for me. It doesn\\u2019t help me scale my capacity. It doesn\\u2019t help me do my job.\\n\\n\\n\\nNotion works with me. It let\\u2019s me think the way I want to think. It helps me do my job and increase my capacity for doing my best work.\\n\\n\\n\\nNotion reminded me that I am organized, disciplined, and committed to growing my company.\\n\\n\\n\\nAnd no piece of software can take that away from me again.\\n\\n\\n\\nNow, my guest today is no stranger to the way software can either help or hurt a business.\\n\\n\\n\\nSusan Boles is the founder of ScaleSpark, a consulting firm that helps companies break through growth ceilings by fixing back-end processes and creating systems designed to scale.'