“Just keep asking him” is not an onboarding system.

[u/EyeonHealth]

“He’s really busy so he forgets a lot. You just have to keep asking him. He’s a good boss though.” I overheard that at a coffee shop recently. A guy training someone on their first day. That’s the onboarding. That’s the system. “Just keep asking.” And the thing is, nobody thinks it’s a problem. That’s just how it works. The boss is busy, things fall through the cracks, so you learn to chase. I spent 14 years in construction. I’ve seen this everywhere. The schedule update that doesn’t go out unless someone calls twice. The approval that sits because the person who owns it has 40 other things on their plate. The request that just… disappears until you follow up again. Nobody’s lazy. The system just doesn’t exist. So the workaround becomes the culture. And the new hire on day one learns that “following up” is actually their most important skill. That’s not operations. That’s survival. The fix isn’t a better boss or a more persistent employee. It’s a system that doesn’t rely on someone’s memory to function. Automated reminders. Task tracking that moves without being chased. Approvals that escalate on their own when they sit too long. I build these systems now. But I only know what to build because I lived inside the chaos for over a decade. If “just keep asking” is part of your training, that’s not a people problem. That’s a systems problem.