In this episode of PowerTalkShow, we sit with Marianne Page, a systems and operations consultant who spent 27 years at McDonald’s before founding her own business transformation practice. Marianne shares how her experience at one of the world’s most efficient companies shaped her thinking about process, scale, and leadership—and how she now helps small businesses develop “sticky systems” that make scaling easier and more human.
Learning from the Golden Arches
When Marianne Page joined McDonald’s, she never expected to stay for nearly three decades. But the “McDonald’s way” of doing business—systematic, scalable, and focused on people—resonated deeply with her. “Nobody talked about systems and processes,” she explains. “It was just the way things were done.”
This immersion became the foundation for her work today, helping SMEs replace chaos with consistency.
The Four S’s of Systems
Marianne introduces her framework of four essential system categories:
- Sexy Systems – Marketing & branding; what everyone loves to work on.
- Security Systems – Finance, legal, compliance; often outsourced.
- Service Systems – The operations backbone; the how-tos of delivery.
- Sticky Systems – Hiring, training, and feedback processes that make all the above “stick.”
“Sticky systems are the glue,” Marianne says. “They make everything else work.”
People Over Processes (But You Still Need Both)
One of Marianne’s key insights is that people don’t resist systems—they resist poorly implemented ones. She advocates for empowering employees to co-create “our way” of doing things through simple tools like video walkthroughs and team conversations, not endless documentation.
“Your best team member already knows the best way to do the job—capture it with a Loom video, not a 20-page SOP.”
Mindset Shifts for Founders
For new founders, she advises capturing recurring tasks early to avoid future confusion. For scaling businesses, the challenge is letting go and trusting well-trained teams to maintain consistency.
“If you had the chance to rehire your whole team, who would you keep? That tells you everything about your culture.”
She also challenges the language leaders use—urging teams to drop “staff” for “team” and eliminate jargon that distances people from process ownership.
Where AI Fits In
Marianne embraces technology—especially AI—but with caution. She warns against letting AI design your systems without input from your team. Instead, use AI to document, not define, your unique way of working.
“AI can help, but it shouldn’t lead your system design—your people should.”