Bite-sized dental wisdom in under 2 minutes.

A couple weekends ago at Voices of Dentistry, a dentist in the audience asked another speaker something along the lines of:

“How do you get your staff to create and follow systems?”

The answer was basically: You can’t just hand it off. You have to guide them through it.

Which is true.
But I don’t think that was the real question.

What I think he was actually asking was:
“Where do I even start?”

Because when people say they want “systems,” what they usually mean is some vague idea of being more organized. But most people don’t actually know what a system is, let alone how to build one.

So let’s back up for a second.

When we say “system,” what we’re really saying is:
What are the repeatable steps that get us the same outcome every time?

That’s it.

And where most people get stuck is they jump straight to writing steps without ever defining the outcome.

So, to the guy sitting in the second row - here’s how it actually works.

Step one: define the outcome.
Not something vague. Pick something measurable.
Show rate. Collections percentage. Five-star reviews per week. If you don’t know what “success” looks like, you won’t know if the system is doing anything.

Step two: capture what actually happens.
Brainstorming is fine, but it’s mostly theory. The fastest way to build a usable system is to observe yourself or your best team member doing the task and write down what actually happens.

This is where most people are surprised - because once you watch it in real time, you realize there are usually three or four steps in between that no one ever thought to write down.

Step three: train and hand it off.
Review it. Clean it up. Fill in gaps. Make sure everyone is aligned on what “done right” actually looks like.

Most people stop here - and then wonder why systems don’t stick.

Step four: prove it works.
Did the number move?
If yes, great - keep it.
If not, adjust the system and try again.

Most systems don’t fail because people didn’t try. They fail because no one ever checked whether the system actually worked.

Once you understand that, systems stop feeling overwhelming and start feeling manageable.

-Dr. Alex

P.S. If the word “system” makes you break out in a mild sweat, that’s exactly why I built Milo. It helps you turn the way you already run your office into simple checklists your team can follow without you explaining things 10 times. We’re launching soon so click below for early access + a bonus scorecard that shows which systems you're missing.