The hidden tax of complexity and speed

Processes and tools have admin costs requiring reevaluation and training

by · TechRadar

Opinion By Tanya Channing Published 10 September 2026

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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Every new process, tool and approval layer carries a cost that rarely appears on a balance sheet.

Nearly 58% of professionals spend at least three hours weekly on admin, while over half find this side of work frustrating. Teams are busy and too much effort is being absorbed by the machinery around the work. Complexity can slow decision-making and make it more fragile. Speed switches off our quality critical thinking and pushes us to simply make a decision to stop the stress.

Tanya Channing

Chief Operating Officer at Pipedrive.

AI has made execution faster but has not necessarily meaningfully improved decision quality across the board, let alone consistently. If businesses are to make the most gains from their tech choices then they need to thoroughly reevaluate their processes and training. Basic AI use, particularly gen-AI, is not going to meaningfully grow the business versus those who take more care in tailor.

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But… easier said than done. This is cognitively hard and so quite easy to neglect without even noticing. All the invisible, cultural ‘soft’ aspects of work aren’t always easily tracked and evaluated and may just be tick-boxed away if and when brought to mind. Keeping process improvement a focused aim and ensuring it evolves alongside new technologies like AI, and essential human requirements (think fulfilment, agency, flow) is not easy.

Getting it right will separate out high performers who never miss a trick from the average thinkers who scrape by.

Making big changes starts with small steps

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" is ancient wisdom echoed across many philosophies, cognitive behavioral therapy, and practical guides to business. And yet we need to be reminded of such basic principles again and again.

I’d recommend carefully cycling through the following on a regular cadence, looking at them with various departmental lenses and priorities that align with your industry, policies, customer contracts, and tech stacks. Small improvements done regularly stop drift away from best practices and organizational goals. For example:

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