Have you ever thought or said, “We are making this more complicated than it needs to be?”
Of course, you have. No sooner is a simple business successful than its managers seem to pour energy into making it much more complicated.
As a young leader, early in one of my first leadership roles, I was frustrated with the many layers of processes put in place to solve a problem. These so-called solutions only obscured the root issue and led to more complications.
A colleague shared this frustration and uttered, “I wish they wouldn’t complify things so much!” This word stuck with me for decades and became my mantra to express the tendency of executives and managers to respond to existing complexities of business by making things even more complicated.
Complex Solutions to Simple Problems?
Without malice, people can unintentionally complify matters when they attempt to solve problems. Faced with existing complexities in an organization, the standard response is to cope with the symptoms rather than isolate and reduce the source of the problem.
Additions are piled on top of processes, extraneous reports are generated, and worthless product “features” are added to solve a mystery rather than eliminate a problem.
These are often unnecessary layers that add complexity to make short-term fixes, often addressing problem symptoms. This added work produces longer-term problems in not addressing the problem’s root cause. I call the accumulation of these unnecessary layers of complexity process debt because they typically “invest” complexity for short-term results at the expense of long-term solutions. Not “paying off” process debt becomes an ever-increasing barrier to transforming a business to a great company.
To decomplify is to embrace the elimination of wasteful or non-value-added processes and disruptive noise in communications. Beyond removing these complicating factors, to decomplify
is to add or embrace productive and simplified processes. These new or different approaches are made for the sake of simplicity and clarity rather than novelty or distraction.
Learn to Ask
My fundamental belief is that people closest to the work best know how to do the work. They know how to improve the work, the real problems, and often how to fix them. If they are simply asked, they will tell you. Often, that is all it takes.
These associates may require additional resources, encouragement, and the authority to proceed, but they are closer to the work and closer to the truth. Fundamental to this decomplified leadership approach is asking questions. Unfortunately, too many leaders are not skilled askers.
Our entire lives, we are taught how to answer questions and solve problems and are rewarded for being the best at answering questions with better grades and promotions. This desire to answer questions and solve problems seems like the right approach when promoted into leadership positions.
However, we should ask questions and learn from the people who do the work and create value. Asking questions is vital to creating a learning organization of problem solvers. It promotes engagement, enhances understanding, and helps teams develop better solutions.
Go and See
Business itself is not that complex. There are just too many people out there complifying it. Great businesses share several similarities and essentially the same strategy — to grow and improve profitability.
We all want to be great. To me, a great company is one that people want to buy from, work for, and invest in and that always does the right thing. This requires building a healthy culture, engaging employees, creating differentiated and superior customer experiences, and delivering sustained results.
Leaders should routinely see where the work is done and tangibly understand how value is created for the organization. They must be dedicated to eliminating process debt and avoiding future debts, removing impediments to open communication, and building a culture that promotes the interests of all stakeholders. Decomplifying frees energy and resources to grow your business and achieve your aspirations.