In a recent LinkedIn post, Lee McCabe, a leader at Claymore Partners, highlights a critical disconnect he observes in business technology implementations: the focus on the ‘tech stack’ often overshadows the more crucial ‘behavior stack.’ McCabe argues that while companies may acquire sophisticated software, the lack of user adoption and integration into daily operations renders these investments ineffective.
McCabe points out a common scenario where the necessary tools are present but underutilized. He states:
The portfolio company has the tools. Nobody uses them.
He elaborates on this by listing various technologies that are typically in place, such as CRM systems, call tracking, dashboards, automation, and reporting tools. However, the real challenge, according to McCabe, lies in demonstrating actual usage and adoption by the sales team, management, and other departments.
The Adoption Gap: Where Technology Investments Fall Short
McCabe critically examines why these expensive technological acquisitions often fail to deliver expected results. He suggests that private equity firms, in particular, are drawn to purchasing software as a tangible sign of progress, leading to new platforms, vendors, and board-level presentations about being “digitally enabled.” Yet, beneath this veneer of technological advancement, the operational reality often remains unchanged.
Habit, Workarounds, and the Untouchable Spreadsheet
According to McCabe, companies frequently continue to rely on ingrained habits, makeshift workarounds, and institutional knowledge, often supplemented by legacy spreadsheets that are too sensitive to alter. This reliance on older, less efficient methods persists despite the availability of modern tools. As McCabe puts it:
Meanwhile the actual company is still running on habit, workarounds, tribal knowledge, and a spreadsheet somebody built in 2019 that nobody is allowed to touch.
The core issue, as identified by McCabe, is not the technology itself but the failure to integrate it into the fundamental operational model of the business. He emphasizes that this is less a technological problem and more a challenge related to adoption, management, process design, and discipline.
Beyond the Software: Addressing the Root Cause
McCabe argues that simply acquiring more software is not a solution; it merely provides a more polished interface for existing dysfunction. He views much of what is labeled ‘digital transformation’ as an expensive form of avoidance, sidestepping the more difficult work of actual change management.
He clearly defines the harder aspects of successful implementation:
The hard part is not selecting the platform. The hard part is changing behaviour. Setting expectations. Enforcing usage. Cleaning the data. Building processes people actually follow. Making the system part of how the business runs, not an optional extra everyone ignores until the board meeting.
Until these behavioral and operational changes are made, McCabe concludes, technology investments function merely as ‘corporate jewellery’—impressive to look at but ultimately useless in driving real business value. The true return on investment for technology, in McCabe’s view, is only realized when the system becomes an integral and consistently used part of the business operations.
📝 About This Content
This article is based on insights shared by Lee McCabe on LinkedIn.
📅 Originally posted on May 1, 2026 | View original post on LinkedIn →