Makin' Money, Savin' Time: Sometimes You Just Gotta Blow It Up

On Monday, I wrote about the discipline of narrowing focus, the power of doing less with intention. But sometimes the only logical way forward is to widen your scope. Some may find this hard to believe, but sometimes the stakeholders are thinking too small.

A while back, I was asked to prioritize a credit‑card vendor replacement, “just a contractual obligation.” They were matter‑of‑fact about it: “Just a swap out. Nothing more. Quick and simple.”

But my natural curiosity enticed me to understand more.

So I started asking questions. I met with the people doing the work, managing the handoffs, and carrying the operational load.

What I found was… operational chaos.

Step‑intensive workflows. Multiple handoffs. Unnecessary stops that required a more expensive vendor contract.

Time‑consuming manual interventions.

A process that had grown wild because people kept tacking on to it, never re-envisioning it. So instead of thinking about it minimally, I expanded the scope to match the reality. I created a process model that illustrated the complexity and unnecessary steps. I proposed internal and external process changes.

The result? Half a million dollars in annual savings. From a project originally framed as “just a swap out.”

This is why senior product leadership matters. It’s not about doing more or doing less. It’s about knowing when to zoom in and when to zoom out so everyone can finally see the opportunity clearly.