The Adoption Curve

Fast Tech Adoption

Welcome to another episode of Adoption Curve! This week, we're diving into self-serve content and learning culture to understand how they can transform leadership development.

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Featuring

Matt Gjertsen

Founder @ Better Everyday Studios

What you'll learn

Identify the Core Problem: Focus on solving what truly matters.
Question Constraints: Identify and challenge everything that might be preventing progress.
Minimal Solutions for Maximum Impact: Build only what’s necessary.

Meet our guest

Matt is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and former Air Force Instructor Pilot with 2500 flight hours. After leaving active duty, he spent over 4 years leading the training and development team at SpaceX before founding Better Every Day Studios in 2021.

Matt has continued his career in the U.S. Air Force Reserves as a Lt. Colonel supporting Space Systems Command. Matt’s 20 years of experience working with high performing teams all over the world has given him a unique perspective on what it takes to lead in this ever changing world. He has previously shared these lessons with organizations like the XPRIZE Foundation, Lockheed Martin, and NASA.

He and his team and Better Every Day Studios are now on a mission to train better managers, build better companies, and create a better world.

Featuring

Matt Gjertsen

Founder @ Better Everyday Studios

Connect

A Guide to Fast Tech Adoption

Background context: Matt Gjertsen’s career is a masterclass in transformation. Throughout it, he discovered that traditional training and tech implementation methods often fall short due to some key mistakes. Over-engineering and endless tweaks can stall progress and dilute impact. His journey led him to embrace a more agile, results-focused approach that prioritizes identifying the core problem and acting fast.

Matt’s insights matter because they challenge the status quo—moving away from the luxury of perfection towards a mindset where delivering results is paramount. This approach has helped countless organizations break free from analysis paralysis and achieve measurable improvements in user adoption and training effectiveness.

🎤 "Engineers love to engineer. They’ll always find a way to make things a little better, but that’s not the point. The point is to build and deliver results."- Matt Gjertsen

Identify the real problem

Matt emphasizes that every successful adoption initiative starts with pinpointing the single most critical challenge. By defining the problem clearly, you avoid getting lost in unnecessary details and can focus on what truly drives impact. This clarity sets the stage for all subsequent actions.

🎤 "The number one thing is figuring out what your boss and key stakeholders care about—because that’s your real starting point." – Matt Gjertsen

Question the constraints

Instead of piling on extra features and processes, Matt advises creating only what is necessary. This lean approach prevents the project from becoming overcomplicated and reduces the ongoing burden of maintenance. When you build only what solves the core problem, every resource is maximized.

🎤 "Every extra element you add creates a tail of upkeep. Focus on what directly addresses the challenge." – Matt Gjertsen

Build Only What Users Actually Need

Once you understand the real problem, the next step is to challenge the assumptions around it. Not every constraint is real, and not every request needs a bigger system, more features, or a complex rollout. The best adoption work comes from removing unnecessary friction and building the simplest useful solution: something that helps people do the work correctly, quickly, and with less confusion.

🎤 "Every extra element you add creates a tail of upkeep. Focus on what directly addresses the challenge." – Matt Gjertsen