We have the data, but it’s spread across five systems
This is the most common trap in travel and airline operations.
A disruption hits. Everyone asks for the same thing: the latest truth. But the truth is scattered.
You can have the data and still be blind if it lives in five places that don’t agree:
- ops and station updates
- crew status
- maintenance notes
- customer communications
- leadership summaries and escalations
When those systems don’t share a single timeline, people become the integration layer. They copy, paste, re-explain, and re-confirm. That’s where the delays come from.
Data spread across systems creates three predictable failures
1) Time gets spent reconciling instead of acting
Teams don’t disagree because they’re stubborn. They disagree because their tools show different slices of the same event. So the first move becomes alignment, not action.
2) Ownership gets fuzzy
When the context is split, nobody can confidently say, “This is the next action and I own it.” Ownership turns into a negotiation.
3) Escalation slows down
Escalation becomes a human ritual: someone notices, someone verifies, someone screenshots, someone pings leadership, then leadership asks for a meeting. By the time the decision lands, the situation has changed.
The middle-manager tax
Middle managers pay first because they’re accountable for movement but they don’t own the systems. So their day becomes chasing updates.
“We have the data, but it’s spread across five systems.”
That sentence usually means:
- the team is rebuilding context over and over
- handoffs are fragile
- decisions disappear after calls
- the same question gets answered five times
What to fix first
- Build one shared disruption timeline that everyone trusts.
- Attach next action + owner to every update.
- Capture decisions where the work happens, not in side chats.
- Turn escalation into a step with clear triggers, not vibes.
If you want the broader context, these posts connect: Outreach Cost, AI Adoption, CRM Alternatives, and Business Momentum System (BMS).
FAQ
Why does spread-out data cause so many meetings?
Because meetings become the place where teams rebuild a single version of the truth. If your tools don’t produce a shared timeline, people do it manually.
What’s the fastest way to reduce coordination?
Stop treating updates like messages. Treat them like steps. Every update should carry a next action and an owner.
How do you connect systems without replacing everything?
Start by connecting the workflow, not the whole enterprise. Pick the disruption path you run every week and make that path consistent end-to-end.
What is a Business Momentum System (BMS)?
A Business Momentum System is built to keep work moving. It sits before your CRM and before reporting tools. It focuses on follow-ups, handoffs, next actions, and the operational work that decides whether execution stalls.
Where does TODD fit?
TODD is our Business Momentum System. It reduces coordination drag by turning next actions into system behavior— so disruptions don’t automatically become a scramble across five systems.
Do we have to replace our current tools?
No. Most teams keep their core systems and add a momentum layer that carries context, owners, and next actions forward— so your tools stop handing the work back to people.
Tyrone Showers