If you’re like me, you get a lot of automated texts, emails and even phone calls before an upcoming doctor’s visit. It can be exhausting.

One doctor’s office—notably—wasn’t doing this. And then they were. So I mentioned the “new technology” to the receptionist when I visited.

“Yeah,” she whispered. “We were ready to walk out over that.”

Turns out, the doc had earnestly done a lot of diligent research, talked with other docs about their software, and he found a solution that brought the office out of the dark ages. It had high ratings, was cost efficient and great.

Except he hadn’t really considered the very people who would carry the change on their backs: his employees.

When they started trying this new technology, they hated it. It was “crummy” and “unusable,” his receptionist said under her breath as she looked both ways while talking. “So we told him we were all quitting. All of us.”

The doc had to relent. He had to let his people research this. They found a usable and un-crummy solution. “We love it,” she said, this time louder.

If I had to guess—based on years of experience studying changes that went awry—I’d reckon the two software suites were not that different, not that much more or less usable. But the first solution missed a key ingredient: Buy-in. In the second instance, the change became everyone’s idea.

As leaders we’re all used to making everyday decisions all the time. We’re decision-making heros. But if something’s going to lead to a change involving other people, we must break this good habit and instead broaden the decision making.

I can tell you from experience, it’s hard to break a good habit.