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Hi, I’m Deanne, founder of KAOS Group™, and this is KAOS Chronicles.
Every issue goes behind the scenes on the complexity that quietly slows businesses down – and I’m not just writing about it from the outside. We’re in it too. Building the workflows, designing the systems, and doing the real work of adoption that makes consistency stick. I share what we’re seeing, what we’re solving, and what’s actually working – so owners, leaders, and stakeholders can grow, scale, or sell on their terms.
THIS EDITION: Smart Docs, Now in Four Countries
A few months ago, I wrote a piece for Costco Connection about something I talk about with owners, leaders, and stakeholders almost every week: documentation. Not the exciting kind of business topic, I know. But apparently it hit a nerve. The article has now been picked up and published across four Costco Connection editions: Canada, the UK, Spain, and France.
I won’t pretend I saw that coming. But it does confirm something I already believed: this isn’t a niche problem. It’s a universal one.
Read “Smart Docs” in your edition: Canada (Spring 2026), UK (Spring 2026), Spain (Summer 2026), and France (Summer 2026).
Let’s take a look. ↓
Why this topic, and why now
The article is called “Smart Docs,” and the core idea is simple: when processes live only in people’s heads, a business becomes fragile in ways that are hard to see until something forces the issue – someone leaves, someone’s out sick, someone’s finally ready for a vacation and realizes they can’t actually take one.
I referenced a 2024 Gallup finding in the piece that stuck with me: only 44% of employees strongly agree they know what’s expected of them at work, down from 60% a few years prior. That’s not a training problem. That’s a documentation problem, and it’s costing businesses more than most people realize in wasted time, repeated mistakes, and leaders who can’t step away.
The three-part framework I shared
The piece walks through the same lens I use with owners, leaders, and stakeholders in real working sessions – Organize. Optimize. Profit.™:
Organize your knowledge. Most businesses have critical information trapped in a handful of people’s heads. I gave three questions to help identify where that risk sits: What do I do that no one else knows how to do? Which area would cause the biggest disruption if someone left suddenly? What recurring tasks impact revenue and client retention?
Optimize your systems. Documentation only works if it’s used, which means it needs to be a living resource, not a folder nobody opens. I outlined a simple template structure: what the process is and why it matters, step-by-step instructions, common issues and fixes, resources needed, and a point of contact. And critically, I emphasized involving the people who actually do the work. When they help build it, they take pride in it, and that shows up in morale as much as in productivity.
Profit from clarity. This is the part people underestimate. Clear processes don’t just protect the business, they free up leaders. The clearest sign it’s working: can key people take time off without the business calling them anyway?
I also included a note on keeping it current. Critical workflows reviewed monthly or quarterly, routine ones annually, with fresh eyes in the room (someone who’s never done the task) because experience tends to overlook exactly the gaps that matter.
Why I think it resonated internationally
Documentation isn’t glamorous. It’s not the kind of thing that makes a highlight reel. But in the businesses I work with, it’s almost always sitting underneath the problems people think are something else – turnover, slow decisions, leaders who can’t unplug. It turns out that’s true whether the business is in Toronto, London, Madrid, or Paris.
If you read the piece in one of the international editions, I’d love to hear where you found it.
And if “Smart Docs” left you wondering where the gaps might be in your own business, I’d welcome the conversation.
“Smart Docs” originally appeared in Costco Connection: Canada (Spring 2026), UK (Spring 2026), Spain (Summer 2026), and France (Summer 2026).
The gap between where you are and where you want to be is rarely about effort. It’s about having the right systems and the right support to get there.
If continuous improvement feels like a priority but nobody owns it yet, that’s a great place to start a conversation.
Recover time. Recapture revenue. Build systems that scale.
About KAOS Group™
There comes a point in every growing organization where operations can’t quite keep up with ambition. Work gets done – but not always consistently. Knowledge lives in people rather than systems. And growth starts to feel harder than it should because everything still runs through the same handful of people.
That’s the work we do at KAOS Group™.
Through our Organize. Optimize. Profit.™ methodology, we work with owners, leaders, and stakeholders to build the behind-the-scenes systems that let businesses scale, sell, or run without depending on any one person.
This is where you come in.
The best working relationships start with a real conversation. Let’s connect over a complimentary 25-minute call – get to know each other and explore whether working together makes sense.
No agenda. Simply a conversation.
The most valuable businesses run, grow, and sell on the strength of their systems – not the memory of their people.
Deanne Kelleher, Founder and Principal of KAOS Group™, builds and implements the behind-the-scenes systems that turn operational complexity into scalable, transferable operations – recovering time, recapturing revenue, and freeing businesses to grow, scale, or sell on their own terms.
Organize. Optimize. Profit.™