Great mechanical service companies stay loyal to systems that drain motivation and talent. In this episode, we unpack the sunk cost trap, the fear hiding behind “not the right time,” and how confident leaders make the shift without chaos.
00:00 Welcome to Ucora and episode intro
00:19 What the sunk cost fallacy is and why it matters in field service
01:00 Explaining sunk costs using a simple everyday example
01:47 Loss aversion and consistency bias in leadership decisions
02:11 Applying the concept to field service software decisions
02:20 Old control heavy software vs modern autonomy focused systems
03:01 Cultural friction and why owners hesitate to change
03:13 Operational fear: disruption, retraining, data migration
03:33 Emotional barriers: ego, fear of mistakes, fear of adoption failure
04:14 The real cost of not switching better systems
04:48 Technician frustration, morale erosion, cultural debt
05:11 How to break the cycle: transparency, technician involvement
05:39 Push for vendor accountability and clear success guarantees
05:50 Balancing change pain vs hidden cost of staying put
06:17 Takeaway: quantify cultural inertia and hidden costs
06:36 Closing and where to learn more at Ucora