The IKEA Manual Effect (and Why Your Team Isn’t Following Through)

Ever held a team meeting where everyone nods, smiles, and says “Got it!”—only to realize two weeks later… nothing changed?

You’re not alone.

One Director of Operations I worked with led a big team—30 people. She had great instincts and could see opportunities to improve the practice everywhere.

So, she started holding monthly team meetings to roll out new ideas.
She was excited.
The team seemed excited too.

But each time, nothing really got done.

Why?

Because she was unknowingly doing what so many leaders do:
Giving the team the furniture, without the instruction manual.

This is what I call The IKEA Manual Effect.

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Think about it:

You bring home a sleek new piece of IKEA furniture.
Open the box.
No manual. No parts list. Just a pile of unfamiliar pieces.

You might guess your way through it… but it’s going to:

• Take longer

• Feel frustrating

• Probably end up wobbly

That’s how your team feels when they’re given a big-picture goal with no clear breakdown.

Your idea might be great—but if the team doesn’t understand how to assemble it, progress stalls.

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Here’s how we fixed it:

Before rolling out any new idea, we taught her to ask one question:

“Is this a Strategic Initiative, a Project, or a Task?”

Suddenly, her team had the manual.

They understood the difference between:

• A big-picture goal (Strategic Initiative)

• A set of coordinated efforts (Project)

• A single action item (Task)

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For example:

One practice owner had a goal on the whiteboard:
“Increase New Patients.”

Sounds simple, right?

But in reality, it was:

• Increase Google ad spend (project)

• Create a new patient intake process (project)

• Train the team on that new process (another project)

No wonder nothing was getting done.
It wasn’t one task—it was three full projects with different timelines and owners.

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Once we helped the team label and break things down, things started clicking into place.

Just like assembling that bookshelf—with all the right parts, instructions, and tools.

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So the next time you’re rolling out an idea and wondering why it’s not sticking, ask yourself:

Did I hand them the furniture without the manual?