# dodgelabs.com

> AI-optimized mirror of dodgelabs.com containing 50 pages totalling 18,378 words of clean markdown content, structured data, and semantic HTML. Original source: https://dodgelabs.com/. Last updated: 2026-06-15T00:20:37.950Z.

Each page is available as HTML (with JSON-LD structured data) and Markdown (text-only, ideal for LLMs and RAG).

## Homepage

- [Operational Friction and Transformation](/content/site-root.html): Eliminate operational friction and manual workarounds. Roger uses a product mindset to help you diagnose root causes and deliver high-value projects monthly. Schedule your intro call. (592 words)

## Articles & Blog Posts

- [Reflecting on a Second Brain | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/reflecting-on-a-second-brain/index.html): The concepts shared are from Tiago Forte’s Building a Second Brain and The PARA Method , two books that I read over summer holiday (yes, nonfiction is my flavor of “beach read” books). (339 words)
- [Processing Address Data | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/processing-address-data/index.html): There are a handful of concepts related to address data and systems that are helpful even if your organization doesn’t send letters or packages to customers. (364 words)
- [Tips for Effective Demos and Presentations](/content/newsletter/drop-distractions-in-demos-and-presentations/index.html): Demos and presentations are common, and whether it’s happening live in person or virtually, or recording for folks to watch later, here are a few ways to make it land better. (363 words)
- [Salesforce’s Core Platform](/content/newsletter/reflections-on-salesforce-agentforce-world-tour-nyc-2024.html): After attending Salesforce’s Agentforce World Tour NYC 2024 event today, it’s clear that Salesforce wants you to use as much of their products as possible. But, does that actually make sense? (662 words)
- [Deferring Digital Transformation Increases Costs | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/deferring-digital-transformation-increases-costs/index.html): Leveraging outdated systems and manual processes in the age of automation and AI increases costs to find and retain talent, plus reduces the productivity and competitive advantage relative to peers. (393 words)
- [Using Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) in Digital Transformation](/content/newsletter/caveat-emptor-with-software-vendors/index.html): Using independent software vendors (ISVs) to satisfy parts of your digital transformation project can accelerate when timelines and enables you to realize value faster, yet it comes with tradeoffs. (437 words)
- [Weekly Review: Achieving Inbox Zero](/content/newsletter/using-inbox-zero-for-emails-and-messaging/index.html): Every weekend, I carve out time for a weekly review and one of the first steps is to get to inbox zero. I use this for both emails, messaging, and tasks, but let’s dive into how this works for communication. (319 words)
- [Where Organizations Go Wrong with Digital Transformation | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/where-organizations-go-wrong-with-digital-transformation.html): Despite having a a simple framework for digital transformation (spoiler: it’s just a three word hierarchy ), countless organizations see their digital transformation programs go sideways. Let’s explore a few examples to see why that happened, and what you can do to avoid falling into the same trap. (497 words)
- [Common Traps Organizations Fall Into](/content/newsletter/three-traps-with-customer-surveys-and-how-to-avoid-them.html): Surveys are a powerful tool to gauge customer sentiment, but most organizations fall short by failing to create mutual value when asking for feedback. Let’s unpack why that is and how to avoid it with an example. (703 words)
- [The "Who" of the 5Ws Framework](/content/newsletter/using-the-5ws-framework-who/index.html): Let’s take a look at how to use the “who” of the 5Ws framework to define problems and gather requirements for a digital transformation initiative. (278 words)
- [Why You Should Look Across Your Entire Organization for AI Use Cases | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/why-you-should-look-across-your-entire-organization-for-ai-use-cases.html): Teams within your organization may start using AI to solve specific challenges, but letting each group attempt to self-organize increases the likelihood of missed opportunities and potential inefficiencies. (383 words)
- [Troubleshooting Process: Steps to Handle Exceptions and Bugs](/content/newsletter/three-steps-to-improve-your-stance-for-exceptions/index.html): Troubleshooting process exceptions and system bugs have a compounding effect when there are many places to look. Three steps get you in a better position to deal with uncertainty. (365 words)
- [Using the 5Ws Framework | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/using-the-5ws-framework/index.html): The same 5Ws that we learned in primary school is a helpful framework to use in digital transformation initiatives. When architecting business processes and systems, it is useful to learn about an environment and can make others question assumptions that have been made. (212 words)
- [Define a Backup Strategy for Your Systems | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/define-a-backup-strategy-for-your-systems/index.html): Operating without backups of your systems is like driving a car without wearing a seatbelt. (389 words)
- [A/B Testing in Email Campaigns](/content/newsletter/ab-test-emails-more-often-and-aggressively/index.html): A/B testing in email campaigns is inconsistently adopted across multiple segments of the market, despite most email marketing platforms offering this functionality. It’s time to start using this more often and aggressively, especially when you have more to gain from the insights it produces. (292 words)
- [The Nightclub & Jay-Z](/content/newsletter/metaphors-for-authentication-and-authorization/index.html): Authentication and authorization are two concepts that are often misinterpreted when designing and integrating systems. Fortunately, there are a couple of relatable metaphors to use in discussions. (325 words)
- [Why We Underestimate Time and Effort & How to Mitigate It | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/why-we-underestimate-time-and-effort-and-how-to-mitigate-it.html): Underestimating the time and effort required to deliver changes regularly appears as organizations embark on digital strategy and transformation projects. At its core, this is a cognitive bias called the planning fallacy, which also touches on underestimating risk and overestimating benefits. (520 words)
- [Best Practices vs. Minimum Acceptable Standards](/content/newsletter/establish-best-practices-as-the-standard-not-aspirational-ceiling.html): Best practices is treated like a buzzword phrase within digital strategy and transformation projects, although the issue with this starts with the superlative nature of the phrase. (499 words)
- [Applying the Swiss Cheese Metaphor | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/applying-the-swiss-cheese-metaphor/index.html): Before you take a bite or melt it for fondue, the iconic Emmental cheese can be sliced up and used to identify and mitigate gaps in your digital transformation initiatives. (228 words)
- [Using SCQA to Improve Your Communication | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/using-scqa-to-improve-your-communication/index.html): Incorporating frameworks like SCQA is helpful to facilitate discussions and deliver presentations. It establishes context, gains alignment from participants, and identifies potential solutions. (264 words)
- [Understanding Office Politics in Organizational Change](/content/newsletter/generative-ai-to-mitigate-organizational-politics/index.html): Office politics has a strong influence on how changes are rolled out within an organization and has the power to build cohesion or entirely derail an initiative. (271 words)
- [Defining Action Items | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/defining-action-items/index.html): Action items have a higher chance of getting done the first time if it’s clear what to do and it has a single owner. (277 words)
- [The Complexity of Digital Transformation Projects](/content/newsletter/how-to-mitigate-bias-of-perceived-vs-actual-complexity-when-vetting-vendors.html): A common mental trap that you can fall into with digital transformation projects is assuming that less vendors results in less complexity. However, this is highly dependent on knowing how mature and complete the set of features are that you’re using. (467 words)
- [Start Simple with Portals for External Stakeholders | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/start-simple-with-portals-for-external-stakeholders.html): Launching a portal for external stakeholders can streamline interactions, reduce the workload on your team, and boost overall efficiency. However, there’s a common pitfall that organizations make by trying to perfect everything from the start. (344 words)
- [Attention to Detail in Digital Transformation Projects](/content/newsletter/attention-to-detail-matters/index.html): Attention to detail pops up all over the place on digital transformation projects. Being able to have a keen eye to spot things that are out of place is a helpful tool. (344 words)
- [Predictive AI and Data Enrichment](/content/newsletter/start-collecting-more-data-and-enriching-it-to-have-better-results-with-predictive-ai.html): Predictive AI relies on training algorithms with data, and often the data that is used by the algorithm is actually derived from your raw data into a set of “features”. Let’s explore why you want collect and enrich your data to make this process more impactful. (394 words)
- [Engaging with Vendors in Digital Transformation Projects](/content/newsletter/engaging-with-a-vendor-sales-process/index.html): It’s inevitable in digital transformation projects that you will encounter vendors that follow somewhat rigid sales processes and use account executives. (236 words)
- [Systems & Dogs | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/systems-and-dogs/index.html): Systems and dogs have a lot in common. I love using metaphors to unpack big or unfamiliar concepts. Let’s see how this one holds up. (257 words)
- [Touch Typing: Still a Skill Worth Learning | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/touch-typing-still-a-skill-worth-learning/index.html): A few people ask me each month “what are you using to write your meeting notes”, and recently they might ask a follow up like “are you using AI”. (216 words)
- [Spend More Time Framing Problems | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/spend-more-time-framing-problems/index.html): Framing a problem is almost always harder than designing the solution. This is typically because there is not sufficient understanding of all of the dimensions and the impact that it has on people, business processes, and systems. (295 words)
- [sitemap-xml.html](/content/sitemap-xml.html) (337 words)
- [**Who**](/content/newsletter/using-the-5ws-framework-responding-to-the-example-business-case.html): Let’s take a look at how the 5Ws framework gets applied to an example business case . If you haven’t taken a look at that example business case, pop over there first before continuing to read. (777 words)
- [When to Move to a Data Analytics Platform | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/when-to-move-to-a-data-analytics-platform/index.html): Data analytics platforms and “data clouds” have become more accessible as technology platforms mature and costs to acquire and maintain are historically lower than ever. Yet, organizations still take a cautious approach to implementing a data warehouse and/or standalone analytics platform. (454 words)
- [Treat AI as an Autopilot, Not a Copilot | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/treat-ai-as-an-autopilot-not-a-copilot/index.html): Microsoft and Salesforce both have used marketing to label AI as a copilot, although this is not the appropriate metaphor from aviation. As a pilot with over 600 hours in the cockpit, AI is an autopilot, not a copilot. (501 words)
- [Using the “Why” of the 5Ws Framework](/content/newsletter/using-the-5ws-framework-why/index.html): Let’s take a look at how to use the “why” of the 5Ws framework to define problems and gather requirements for a digital transformation initiative. (369 words)
- [Participants' Use of Generative AI](/content/newsletter/insights-from-leading-an-ai-workshop/index.html): Yesterday, I led all-day workshop for a consulting firm based in New York City with a focus on establishing a foundation around the core domains of AI followed by a hands-on training to apply generative AI to use cases for their client base. (474 words)
- [Example Business Case: Digital Transformation and Modernization Program](/content/newsletter/using-the-5ws-framework-example-business-case/index.html): Now that we’ve gone through all of the Ws in the 5Ws framework , let’s apply it to a sample business case for an organization embarking on a digital transformation and modernization program. (302 words)
- [Leveraging AI for Business Processes](/content/newsletter/approaching-ai-efforts-serially-and-in-parallel/index.html): Generative AI has been and will continue to be a hot topic, yet it’s only one domain of artificial intelligence that your organization can be leveraging to improve business processes. If you’re dipping your toe into the waters of AI, you can approach it serially or in parallel. (433 words)
- [Embrace Spreadsheets Before Systems | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/embrace-spreadsheets-before-systems/index.html): I often joke that modern business apps are just “spreadsheets in the cloud”. While this is mostly true, it is a point of leverage that you can use to your advantage as your processes and organization evolve. (344 words)
- [Before You Sign: Get a Second Opinion on Tech Platform Products & Pricing | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/before-you-sign-get-a-second-opinion-on-tech-platform-products-and-pricing.html): Technology platform licensing contracts vary in structure and some vendors with enterprise-grade products have virtually impossible to negotiate cancellation terms. Before you sign a contract, you should get a second opinion about the products and unit prices. (362 words)
- [Using the “When” of the 5Ws Framework for Digital Transformation](/content/newsletter/using-the-5ws-framework-when/index.html): Let’s take a look at how to use the “when” of the 5Ws framework to define problems and gather requirements for a digital transformation initiative. (273 words)
- [Using the 5Ws Framework for Digital Transformation](/content/newsletter/using-the-5ws-framework-what/index.html): Let’s take a look at how to use the “what” of the 5Ws framework to define problems and gather requirements for a digital transformation initiative. (367 words)
- [Understanding Change Management in Technology Implementation](/content/newsletter/why-change-management-gets-cut-and-how-to-compensate.html): Technology implementation firms often include change management in their statements of work with nebulous, hand-wavy language, which is also the reason why it’s the first thing on the chopping block when a change order increases scope for functionality. (281 words)
- [Transformation Initiatives and Engineering Balance](/content/newsletter/over-engineering-is-equally-as-bad-as-under-engineering.html): Transformation initiatives are often major shifts in how people work, and the tricky part is finding the right balance when designing a business process or system to avoid over-engineering, as this is equally as bad as under-engineering. (297 words)
- [Why You Should Use Informal & Playful Rating Systems | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/why-you-should-use-informal-and-playful-rating-systems.html): Using an informal and playful approach to defining level of effort, impact, or priority is helpful when operating on teams that deliver incremental changes on a regular basis. (254 words)
- [Prioritizing with the MSCW Framework | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/prioritizing-with-the-mscw-framework/index.html): There are many frameworks for prioritizing, although MSCW stands out as being easily understood by functional and technical stakeholders with its unambiguous definitions. (295 words)
- [Using the "Where" of the 5Ws Framework](/content/newsletter/using-the-5ws-framework-where/index.html): Let’s take a look at how to use the “where” of the 5Ws framework to define problems and gather requirements for a digital transformation initiative. (308 words)
- [Define & Refine Your Exit Strategy | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/define-and-refine-your-exit-strategy/index.html): Finding the nearest and most suitable exit isn’t just for flying on planes and going to the cinema. Knowing how to exit systems is equally as important. (193 words)
- [Consultants vs SIs: Why Knowing the Difference Matters | Dodge Labs](/content/newsletter/consultants-vs-sis-why-knowing-the-difference-matters.html): A common mistake that occurs in digital transformation initiatives is conflating the roles of the consultant and systems implementer (SI). Some ecosystems curated by platform vendors actively create this confusion for their customers by applying the label “consultant” to what is actually an SI. (232 words)

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