How Smart Teams Get Stuck in Their Own Patterns
After three years of development, WriteRightNow was fundamentally broken. Teachers couldn't sign up. The interface was confusing. The value proposition was buried under features nobody understood. Despite months of "fixes" and additional features, the team was stuck in an execution spiral—working harder but getting further from a viable product.
Even smart teams fall into this classic trap: when you're deep into execution, you work harder on patterns that aren't working. And it's nearly impossible to step back to read the label on your own jar.
But then the University of Oregon research team saw their pattern. When they uncomfortably watched teachers struggle with their product, everything became visible. Breakthrough followed naturally—5,000+ teachers adopted the platform in six months, 400% above target.







