Here’s the Mindset Shift to Win an Unwinnable Records Management Game

What you’ll learn in this post:

• Why “training everyone” never works
• Why it's an advantage to think of records management as an ecosystem.
• Why automated cleanup and search can succeed where other tactics fail

Like what you see? Want to see more? I invite you to chat with my team at Shinydocs.

Recent Example: When reality sets in for a great customer...

Just last week, I was on a call for a potential deal for Shinydocs. They have 4,000–5,000 users and they’ve done everything content management experts recommend.

The right system. The right policies. 

And yet… end user engagement is low. Certainly, no excitement. No delight.

They asked, "How can we train our users to focus on the compliant system we have given them?"

Tongue in cheek, I told them I could provide the following list of businesses that have successfully done what they're trying to do...

I'm less than half-joking. But the idea of forcing thousands of users to do what you want in RM is a fool's errand.

Here's what I recommended instead. 

The Mindset Shift: Treat It as an Ecosystem

Instead of forcing everyone to use [insert system of choice], treat content management as an ecosystem where success depends on just two things:

1. Know what you have.
2. Find what you need.

That’s really all your business cares about. Deliver those, and forcing people to use the choice of system no longer matters.

The Approach That Works

1. Automated Cleanup & Guardrails

• Use automated content identification to quietly clean up the mess users naturally create.
• Provide guardrails (not rigid walls) so compliance stays intact without constant policing.

2. AI-Powered Search

• Make it easy for users to find what they need, wherever it’s stored.

TL;DR - Here's The Takeaway

The “unwinnable” game becomes winnable when you stop wrangling thousands of unwilling players.

Clean up behind the scenes. Give them tools they actually like. And instead of “don't do what comes naturally and use our chosen system  ” offer pathways that make their jobs easier.

That’s how you win with records management.

I’ll be the closing keynote speaker at ARMA New England’s Empower Conference, happening September 29, 2025, at Simmons University in Boston. My session, “Legal, Records, and AI You Control”, will explore this mindset shift further.

Hope to see you there!