The swivel chair olympics

I once shadowed a frontline team at a mid-sized bank to understand where their time was really going. Spoiler: it wasn’t serving customers or innovating. It was toggling between five different systems just to update a single client record—copying and pasting the same data like it was an Olympic sport.

Welcome to the Swivel Chair Olympics. Everyone’s competing. No one’s winning.

If your organization relies on people to bridge the gap between systems that don’t talk to each other, this cartoon should feel painfully familiar. Let’s unpack how we got here, why it’s such a problem, and what it actually takes to break the cycle.

 

Why Manual System Hopping Still Exists

You’d think in 2025, we’d be past this. But legacy systems, vendor sprawl, and years of bolt-on solutions have created a reality where:

• Customer onboarding requires re-entering the same info multiple times
• Back-office teams keep sticky notes with passwords and shortcuts
• Errors pile up from manual reconciliations
• Compliance risks grow due to inconsistent records
• Staff burnout spikes—not from workload, but from sheer repetition

Why does this persist?

1. Systems Were Designed in Isolation

System A handles deposits. System B handles lending. System C is the CRM. None were built to collaborate, and integration came as an afterthought.

2. “If It Ain’t Broke” Thinking

Except it is broken—just not catastrophically. Leaders delay change because the pain is spread across roles and time. But the operational drag is real.

3. Fear of Integration Projects

Integrating legacy systems has a reputation for being costly, slow, and fragile. So, the workaround becomes permanent.

4. No One Owns the Whole Picture

Each system has a “manager,” but no one’s accountable for end-to-end flow. So inefficiencies stay hidden in silos.

What’s the Real Cost of the Swivel Chair Olympics?

When we talk about system inefficiencies, we’re not just talking about inconvenience. We’re talking about:

• Lost productivity: One major bank calculated they lost the equivalent of 30 FTEs annually to duplicative data entry.
• Increased error rates: Manually rekeying customer info creates inconsistency and compliance risks.
• Slow response times: Time spent toggling systems is time not spent helping customers.
• Reduced morale: Talent wants to solve problems, not perform administrative gymnastics.
• Stalled transformation: Manual processes anchor you to the past when you need to move forward.

If your people are the glue holding your tech stack together, that’s not a sign of resilience—it’s a warning sign.

Integration Doesn’t Mean Replacing Everything

One of the biggest misconceptions is that to solve this, you need a brand-new system. Not necessarily.

Sometimes, the fix isn’t a forklift replacement—it’s a smart integration strategy. That might include:

• APIs that sync customer data across platforms in real-time
• Middleware layers that translate and coordinate between systems
• Single sign-on to simplify access across tools
• Workflow automation to remove redundant tasks
• Unified dashboards that pull data from multiple sources

The goal? Let your systems talk to each other so your people don’t have to.

 

Real-World Fix: One Bank’s Exit from the Olympics

A regional bank we worked with had 12 different platforms involved in customer onboarding alone. Their NPS was tanking. Staff turnover in operations was high.

Instead of a rip-and-replace, we helped them:

• Implement a middleware solution to sync key customer data across five systems
• Set up workflow triggers to pre-populate downstream forms based on upstream entries
• Clean up and rationalize redundant databases
• Consolidate to a single, customer-facing interface for front-line teams

The result? Customer onboarding time was cut in half. Employee satisfaction soared. Audit readiness improved because data was centralized and consistent.

Signs It’s Time to Dismount the Swivel Chair

If you’re unsure whether your bank is still stuck in the Olympics, ask:

• Do employees have to re-enter the same info in more than one system?
• Are customer interactions delayed because of screen toggling or data retrieval?
• Do departments maintain their own records due to system mistrust?
• Are errors frequently traced back to manual entry?
• Are your best people spending their days fighting systems instead of fixing problems?

If you answered yes to more than one, it’s time to rethink your tech stack alignment.

Your Next Steps

You don’t have to rip everything out to make a meaningful difference. Start by asking:

• Where is the data re-entered most often?
• Which systems are mission-critical vs. redundant?
• What workflows are stuck in the cracks between platforms?
• Where can automation eliminate swivel steps?

Then? Build a roadmap—one that makes integration a priority, not an afterthought.

Final Thoughts

Transformation doesn’t happen in swivel chairs. It happens when systems enable your people instead of exhausting them. If you’re still relying on humans to connect your tech dots, you’re not just behind—you’re burning valuable capacity and risking quality.

Let’s retire the Swivel Chair Olympics and build systems that talk to each other, so your teams can finally focus on the work that matters.

Ready to assess how much swivel-chairing is costing your organization?

Take our free OptimizeCore® Assessment to identify the gaps, risks, and opportunities in your tech stack.

Because modern banking shouldn’t depend on who’s best at copying and pasting.

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