April 14, 2025
A Book About Systemizing Your Business by David Jenyns and Michael E Gerber
Quotes from the Book
“that the primary purpose of SYSTEMology is to create space for the business owner – to systemise the business to the point where you can step away from the day-to-day operations and know with confidence that your business will continue to perform to your standards.”
Housekeeping
I can’t believe I didn’t post about this book back when I read it in August 2024. Systemology by David Jenyns was a quick, easy, and surprisingly impactful read. I’ve long admired Michael E. Gerber and read all his E-Myth books more than 20 years ago—in fact, I bought one of his courses back in the day when they still came in giant binders you had to make room for on your shelf. I wish I’d held onto those.
Reflections and Random Thoughts
Reading Systemology felt like a return to those core ideas from Gerber. What stood out to me most was his emphasis on simplicity. It isn’t about building some massive operation manual or turning it into McDonald’s.
It’s about capturing the minimum viable systems that keep your business running so that things don’t fall apart when you’re not in the room.
Insights
Key Takeaways
Minimum viable systems. For years, I’ve been cranking out long, overly detailed SOPs that no one, including me, could use. Thinking in terms of “just enough to work,” I’m starting instead with outlines (just what, not how) and flowcharts that are actually usable. And by usable, I mean we don’t get glassy-eyed when we try to read them.
You don’t have to systematize everything. This was liberating. Not everything in your business needs a flowchart or checklist. Focus on the 20% of systems that drive 80% of the results. It turns out (according to Jenyns) perfection is not only unnecessary—it’s kind of a trap. We find this in a lot of discussions of perfectionism, don’t we?
Documenting doesn’t mean doing. Jenyns points out that you can—and should—get others to document what they do. This was a big aha for me. I don’t have to be the creator of every process. I just have to create the container for them to live in and keep the project moving.
You can start small. You don’t need a systems revolution. You need a small win. One system. One process. One chunk of chaos tamed. Then another. And another. This makes systemizing feel doable—even if you’re running in a million directions (as most of us are).
Something Actionable
Just a reminder: my rankings are based on how usable the book was for me—and I’ve put a lot of the concepts from this one into practice.
What Everyone Else Thinks
Post Progress
I don’t get it – this is a hidden block? Why? What’s it for?
