Leadership and Simplicity

Posted on October 13th, 2011 by admin in Communications, Leadership, Productivity

By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth

keeping It Simple

One of the most effective ways to order your world is to simplify everything you encounter. However the problem for many is keeping it simple often becomes very difficult when our basic human nature is to over-complicate everything we touch. In thinking about the people I respect the most, to the one, they possess the uncanny ability to take the most complicated of issues and simplify them. You will find that the best leaders, communicators, teachers, innovators, etc., have a true knack for taking extremely complex, dense, or intricate content and making it engaging and easy to understand. In fact, it was Leonardo Da Vinci who said: “simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication.” In today’s post I’ll take a look at the often overlooked benefits of keeping it simple…

While simplicity may have become a lost art, understanding the importance of simplicity is nonetheless critical to your success. Consider all the presentations/meetings you’ve attended in the last few weeks; was it the people who were able to articulate their positions in a simple and straight forward fashion, or the individuals that made things complex and tedious that got traction with their ideas? It has been my experience that the more complicated, difficult, or convoluted an explanation is, that one or both of the following issues are at play: 1) the person speaking is a horrible communicator, or; 2) the person speaking really doesn’t possess a true command of their subject matter. It is one thing to toss around the latest buzz-words or to have the most complex flow chart, but it is quite another thing to actually possess such a deep and thorough understanding of your topic that you can make even the most complex issues easy to understand.

It is almost as if business people have come to believe that complexity is synonymous with sophistication and savvy. It has been my experience that the only things that “complexity” is synonymous with are increased costs and failed implementations. There is an old saying in the software development world that states “usability drives adoptability” which tends to lend support to my observations. Those of you that know me have come to understand that I prefer to cut to the chase and get to the root of an issue as quickly as possible…this requires the ability to simplify, not complicate matters.

As I watched the Republican Debate Tuesday evening, one exchange between Herman Cain and Mitt Romney caught my attention. Cain asked Romney if he could name each one of the items contained in his 59 point economic plan – Romney clearly couldn’t, and in an attempt to trivialize the simplicity of Cain’s 9-9-9 plan quipped that while simple solutions are appealing, they’re not sufficient enough to address complicated problems. Really? This is precisely what’s wrong with our government, and it’s also what plagues many businesses. You don’t solve complicated matters by adding to the complexity. The most effective way to deal with complexity is to strip it away by addressing it with simplicity.

The truth is that simplifying something doesn’t make it a trite or incomplete endeavor. Rather simplification makes for a more productive and efficient effort that is often more savvy than other more complex alternatives. Another benefit of simplicity is that it serves as a key driver of focus, which enables greater efficiency, productivity, and better overall performance. Keeping things simple allows you to focus on one thing at a time without the distractions that complexity breeds by its nature alone. I would suggest that you break down every key area of your business (operations, administration, marketing, branding, sales, finance, IT, etc.) and attempt to simplify your processes, initiatives, and offerings.

As a C-level executive you must focus on simplifying your day in order to maximize your efficiency. By simplifying everything from the information and reports you view, to your communications protocol, to your agenda, to your decisioning structure, you will be better able to operate in today’s unnecessarily complex world. I’ll leave you with this quote from Longfellow: “In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity.”

What say you?

Related Post: How Dumb is Your Business?

Share and Enjoy:
  • Print
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Blogplay
 


View Comments
  • Peter van Riet

    I completely agree. However, one occasionaly comes across people / managers who try to keep it simple by not being intrested in the actual complexity. They try to receive simplicity rather than going through the process of making things simple. Slight problem is: if they read a post like this, they will probably feel encouraged, thinking they are on the right track…….”Getting it” is still crucial.

    Peter van Riet
    (Netherlands)

  • http://www.n2growth.com/blog Mike Myatt

    This is an astute observation Peter. I’ve also observed the K.I.S.S. principle being used as a dodge for doing what’s necessary. “Getting it” will always be crucial:). Thanks Peter.

  • Jean Latting

    On the one hand, I agree that people (myself included) often unnecessarily make easy things hard and unusable.

    On the other hand, one of my favorite quotes is “behind every complex problem is a simple solution — and it’s usually wrong.” The challenge is to convey a complex idea in simple terms rather than to try to “simplify” complexity by taking the first easy solution that pops into one’s head. 
    – Kids acting up? Punish them. (Learning effective, nonviolent means of discipline is too complex.) 
    – New change initiative? Order employees to comply. (Taking the time to communicate about the change and involve employees in its implementation is too complex.)
    – Jails overcrowded by people who haven’t even graduated high school? Build more jails! (Figuring out which GED and high school programs are most effective and then actually implementing them is too complex.)

    The simple route is to address the visible problem at hand — pulling the dead bodies out of the water. The more complex and harder route is to figure out how to address the cause of the problem — to go upstream and see what’s causing all those dead bodies to show up in the first place.

    Now, that doesn’t excuse meandering, unfocused explanations and meetings.  However it does mean that the danger of simplification can be just real as the danger of unnecessary, unfocused complexity.

    Your word “usability” is key. Could we simply convey a complex solution in a way that people can understand and use the idea?
    Jean

  • http://www.n2growth.com/blog Mike Myatt

    Hi Jean:

    Thanks for your comment. I actually agree with the quote “behind every complex problem is a simple solution.” To that quote I would add that simplicity alone doesn’t mean the solution is correct. In the examples you cited, I believe the distinction which needs to be made is the difference between easy vs. hard. Easy often masquerades as simple, when it often breeds its own set of complications. Simple doesn’t mean lacking in detail, process, or logic, rather, simple means not layering in unneeded detail, process, or logic just for the sake of feigning sophistication. I actually believe the solutions you cited as being the correct solutions are in fact simple – they just aren’t easy. Thanks for adding to the thought stream Jean…

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=666392944 Jean Kantambu Latting

    Thanks for the clarification, Peter, between simple and easy. Good food for thought. Perhaps you are distinguishing between simple to understand and easy to implement? The solutions I cited are simple to understand yet hard to implement. I say that the skills in my book, Reframing Change, are  “deceptively simple” because they are easy to understand yet difficult to implement. Would you say this is getting at what you mean — or am I “over-simplifying” it :-)

    Jean

  • Peter van Riet

    I like to compare it with sport. Top athletes make their sport look easy when in fact (or because) they embrace the complexity of their craft. That is their talent and skill: a simple approach to complexity. They don’t run away from it, but deal with it for what it is.

  • http://www.n2growth.com/blog Mike Myatt

    Most athletes will share it’s their efforts to simply the complexities associated with any given task (mental or physical) that gives them a competitive edge. To improve a jump shot, a golf swing, a running stride, etc., it’s necessary to simply them by exploiting the opportunity that comes from eliminating the complexities associated with unnecessary movements, hitches, etc.

blog comments powered by Disqus