The Sisima Way: Designing New Ways of Working with Tech, People, and Leadership
- Dave Lester
- Jun 25
- 3 min read
Why transformation doesn’t start with tools — it starts with the system around them.
Every project or service-based business wants to grow.
More clients. More billable work. More impact.
So they buy platforms, adopt tools, hire smart people.
But here’s the pattern we’ve seen again and again: the tech gets installed, the dashboards get built, the intentions are clear… and nothing changes.
Teams keep guessing capacity. Time tracking still slips. Resourcing remains reactive.
Not because the tools are wrong — but because the system around them isn’t ready.
The Problem with Tool-First Transformation
Software can automate. It can streamline. It can give you visibility.
But it can’t embed new habits. It can’t build accountability. And it can’t align leadership.
That’s why transformation efforts stall. Not because the tech fails — but because it’s implemented in isolation.
To get value from platforms like Projectworks or Xero, you need more than a rollout. You need a system your culture can support.
The Sisima Way
At Sisima, we work with project and service-based businesses across the Asia Pacific region to unlock scale through more than just technology.
We call it The Sisima Way: a system-based approach to designing new ways of working.
It’s grounded in our Culture as a System model:
Process – the tools, tech and rhythms that drive work
Environment – the signals and structures that shape behaviour
Leadership – what’s modelled, protected, and followed through
People – who’s empowered, upskilled, and supported
Together, these four forces form the system your technology operates in.
When they’re out of sync, tech gets ignored. When they’re aligned, transformation sticks.
Tech as Process and Environment
Platforms like Projectworks and Xero give businesses a backbone: structure for time, billing, resourcing, forecasting, payroll, and project health. Even better, the two platforms integrate — streamlining everything from resourcing to invoicing and financial reporting.
This falls under two key levers:
Process: how work is done (including outsourced tasks like payroll)
Environment: how people engage with tools and rhythm
But without the other two forces — leadership and people — those processes don’t stick.
Why Most Software Rollouts Don’t Stick
Here’s what we see in businesses that struggle to adopt new tech:
Leadership hasn’t shifted behaviour to match the new system
People haven’t had the capability uplift to use the tool with confidence
The environment reinforces old habits
So even with powerful software in place, admin drags persist, forecasting stays reactive, and decisions don’t improve.
What Transformation Looks Like
When businesses apply The Sisima Way alongside tech like Projectworks and Xero, here’s what changes:
Leaders start modelling usage and clarity
Teams build capability and confidence
Dashboards become conversation tools, not just reports
Time, billing, and resourcing rhythms feel embedded — not enforced
Admin-intensive tasks like payroll are streamlined or outsourced, freeing up capacity
Teams stop wasting time in admin. Leaders make better calls, faster. Everyone feels like they’re working in sync.
Don’t Just Install Tools. Design a System.
We love smart tech. But it only performs in the right system.
If you want to create new ways of working, don’t just install software. Design the system around it.
That’s The Sisima Way.
Ready to design your next way of working?
We help project and service-based businesses implement platforms like Projectworks and Xero, and align them with the leadership, culture, and capability required to scale.
Book a free 30-minute strategy call and let’s explore how to create real capacity and clarity in your business.
Prefer to explore first? Download our one-page Culture as a System Guide to see where your implementation might be falling short.
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