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Why product teams are struggling with Jira, Asana, and Notion—and why we haven't moved on (yet)

"Every new project our team starts, I always tell them I don’t care in which tool I forget to update the tickets."

Nejc, Sr. Developer

We still use Jira. We still use Asana. We still use Notion.

Not because they’re perfect, but because they’re there. They’re the default. Despite their flaws, there’s no clear alternative—yet

For years, these tools have shaped how teams manage work. They promised efficiency, alignment, and accountability. And for some teams, they deliver. But for fast-moving, high-trust teams, they don’t just fall short—they create friction.

The problem isn’t misuse. It’s that these tools were designed for control, not collaboration. They were built for tracking, not momentum. And in doing so, they fail the teams that don’t need to be micromanaged but need better ways to work together at speed.

Jira and Linear - Great at tracking, bad at execution

Jira is the industry standard for engineering teams, and Linear is its sleek, modern alternative. But both are built around the same idea: work as a series of tickets.

Jira assumes software development follows a predictable process—sprints, backlogs, roadmaps. But in reality, execution isn’t always linear. Linear strips away Jira’s excess but still operates on the same logic: if you track work efficiently, you’ll get better outcomes. That’s not always true.

The best teams don’t need rigid workflows. They need clarity—what matters, what’s been decided, what needs action. Instead, they get backlogs filled with old tickets, process-heavy workflows, and an illusion of control that doesn’t actually speed things up.

And yet, we still use them—because what’s the alternative?

Asana, Monday, and ClickUp - When more features create more problems

If Jira and Linear fail by being too rigid, Asana, Monday, and ClickUp fail by trying to do everything at once. They sell the idea that more features mean more productivity. Instead, they create complexity.

Projects turn into sprawling dashboards of subtasks, dependencies, automations, and notifications. What starts as a simple to-do list becomes an intricate system that needs management of its own. Instead of helping teams focus, these tools drown them in notifications, status updates, and redundant tasks.

They weren’t built for teams that trust each other to get things done. They were built to create visibility—primarily for managers, who need dashboards, workload tracking, and a sense of control. But does that actually remove friction from execution? Not really.

And yet, we still use them—because they’re what’s available.

Slack and Microsoft Teams - Where work happens—and gets lost

Most real execution doesn’t happen in Jira or Asana. It happens in Slack, Microsoft Teams, and email. This is where decisions get made, priorities shift, and work moves forward. But these tools weren’t designed to manage commitments.

A key decision gets made in Slack—then lost in the scroll. A crucial agreement is buried under new threads. Without structure, teams rely on memory, follow-ups, and fragmented notes. Work moves fast in Slack, but Slack doesn’t ensure it gets done.

Notion, Confluence, and Google Docs - Endless knowledge, no execution

Some teams try to fix this by documenting everything in Notion, Confluence, or Google Docs. But documentation isn’t execution. Writing something down doesn’t mean it will happen.

Notion is powerful but suffers from the blank-page problem—it’s whatever you make it. That means each team must build its own system from scratch. Confluence and Google Docs store knowledge, but they don’t surface what’s actually important at the right time.

Information is valuable—but if it’s not surfaced when and where it matters, it just becomes a graveyard of forgotten documents.

And yet, we still use them—because there’s no better alternative.

The Real Problem - These tools were never built for teams like ours

At d.labs, we’ve worked with hundreds of teams facing this exact challenge. These teams don’t fail because they lack structure or process. They struggle because their tools weren’t designed for how they actually work. Fast-moving teams thrive on clarity, speed, and adaptability—not on bloated features, rigid workflows, or tracking for the sake of tracking.

Instead of enabling execution, these tools force teams to work around them. They were built for visibility—to track work, to keep managers informed, to help large organizations function at scale. But high-performing teams don’t need to be tracked. They need to stay aligned, move fast, and remove friction. They don’t need more dashboards—they need better ways to keep commitments fluid. They don’t need more workflows—they need clarity.

So what comes next?

We’re not saying you should throw out Jira, Asana, Slack, or Notion. We haven’t. These tools still serve a purpose. But they don’t solve the real problem.

The next generation of productivity tools shouldn’t just track work—they should actively assist in getting it done. AI can surface the most critical commitments, automate follow-ups, and provide context-aware recommendations to reduce decision fatigue. Instead of relying on manual updates, AI-powered tools can track discussions, extract action items, and ensure alignment without adding friction.

We don’t have all the answers yet. But we know this: the old ways aren’t working. The best teams deserve better.


The truth is, we rarely stop to question these tools. We adapt to their limitations, and feel vindicated  when we make them work for us - so much so, we don't even consider what would be better made for purpose today. We also forget we might only be using 5-10% of their capabilities, but pay for the whole thing. Over time, they start to feel like complete solutions—but they aren’t. The real system is us: our work, our interactions, our commitments, our velocity, and our frustration with processes that only half work.

If this resonates, I’d love to hear—where do these tools actually shine for you, and where do they completely fall apart?

Find me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakal/