Every team asks for clarity. Everyone complains when we miss details and lose time later. Yet, every time we sit down to create real sub-tasks in Jira, nobody wants to do it. They see it as paperwork. It’s not laziness; it’s human nature. Our brains want the easy route now, even if it means more pain later.
You can talk about the logical benefits until you’re blue in the face. It won’t matter. Logic loses to the path of least resistance.
So stop fighting human nature. Redesign the process. Use AI to auto-generate sub-tasks from the main story, or make the workflow so effortless that nobody even notices the extra steps. The right way becomes the easy way.
Don’t try to sell a distant future. Tie the painkiller to today. “Write sub-tasks now, save 15 minutes in the next planning call. Every. Single. Time.” People move for instant wins.
At first, you have to enforce the habit. Be patient but persistent. Remind, explain, celebrate every small win. If the team slips, don’t point fingers—reset and try again. It’s not about building perfect process. It’s about outsmarting human nature, and making the best path also the simplest one.