SIMPLIFY COMPLEXITY
WHY IT MATTERS
People can remember, understand, and perform their responsibilities best when things are kept simple. Simplicity can directly lead to saved time, energy, and resources. With the ever-increasing complexity that comes from modernization and globalization in today’s business world, leaders need more than ever to remember to keep things simple. Simplicity leads to understanding, understanding leads to informed action, and informed action leads to results. Leaders who simplify complexity put people and their organization on a long-term track to success. Leaders who fail to simplify complexity will cause confusion and see their chance for success drowned in their own rivers of unnecessary convolution.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE
Leaders who excel at simplifying complexity have the wisdom and self-confidence to know they don’t need to be complicated to appear competent. They know the more straightforward they are, the more competent a leader they will appear to be, and the more they will be trusted. They know how easy it is to be complex, but believe it is the great leaders that can take what is complex and make it simple.
Leaders that simplify complexity see simplicity not as an alternative to complexity, but as complexity conquered. Their success isn’t in their genius or ability to understand what others don’t. Their success comes from their determination to work complex issues until they are able to unravel them and put them back together again.
Leaders that simplify complexity use frameworks, metaphors, stories, analogies, and examples to connect difficult ideas to more commonly understood concepts. They help people understand new ideas through ideas they already know. They relate complex ideas to everyday life, making them easier for people to comprehend and remember.
Leaders that simplify complexity approach it by breaking it down so that it can be more easily examined. They know the only way to take on ideas and issues larger than life is to make them more consumable. They take big issues and reduce into small questions. They take overwhelming problems and dissect them into their component parts.
Leaders that simplify complexity keep their focus on the lowest common denominator. They know that in order to reach everyone in their target audience they are required to present messages in ways that everyone can act on.
Leaders that simplify complexity are motivated by results. They know that hard ideas, complex plans, and over-the-top strategies are difficult to implement. Their experience proves that big ideas many times never get off the ground because of the burden of their own weight. They know that simple ideas, simple plans, and simple strategies promote the possibility of actually achieving something.
Leaders that simplify complexity carry the banner of simplicity into every aspect of their work. They don’t over-think things. They rely on common sense. They are streetwise. Their power isn’t in outthinking everybody else, but in thinking, communicating, and acting in a way that naturally makes sense to everybody else.
BELIEFS
BEST PRACTICES
SELF-REFLECTION
WORDS OF CAUTION
PSYCHOMETRIC 360 QUESTIONS
People can remember, understand, and perform their responsibilities best when things are kept simple. Simplicity can directly lead to saved time, energy, and resources. With the ever-increasing complexity that comes from modernization and globalization in today’s business world, leaders need more than ever to remember to keep things simple. Simplicity leads to understanding, understanding leads to informed action, and informed action leads to results. Leaders who simplify complexity put people and their organization on a long-term track to success. Leaders who fail to simplify complexity will cause confusion and see their chance for success drowned in their own rivers of unnecessary convolution.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE
Leaders who excel at simplifying complexity have the wisdom and self-confidence to know they don’t need to be complicated to appear competent. They know the more straightforward they are, the more competent a leader they will appear to be, and the more they will be trusted. They know how easy it is to be complex, but believe it is the great leaders that can take what is complex and make it simple.
Leaders that simplify complexity see simplicity not as an alternative to complexity, but as complexity conquered. Their success isn’t in their genius or ability to understand what others don’t. Their success comes from their determination to work complex issues until they are able to unravel them and put them back together again.
Leaders that simplify complexity use frameworks, metaphors, stories, analogies, and examples to connect difficult ideas to more commonly understood concepts. They help people understand new ideas through ideas they already know. They relate complex ideas to everyday life, making them easier for people to comprehend and remember.
Leaders that simplify complexity approach it by breaking it down so that it can be more easily examined. They know the only way to take on ideas and issues larger than life is to make them more consumable. They take big issues and reduce into small questions. They take overwhelming problems and dissect them into their component parts.
Leaders that simplify complexity keep their focus on the lowest common denominator. They know that in order to reach everyone in their target audience they are required to present messages in ways that everyone can act on.
Leaders that simplify complexity are motivated by results. They know that hard ideas, complex plans, and over-the-top strategies are difficult to implement. Their experience proves that big ideas many times never get off the ground because of the burden of their own weight. They know that simple ideas, simple plans, and simple strategies promote the possibility of actually achieving something.
Leaders that simplify complexity carry the banner of simplicity into every aspect of their work. They don’t over-think things. They rely on common sense. They are streetwise. Their power isn’t in outthinking everybody else, but in thinking, communicating, and acting in a way that naturally makes sense to everybody else.
BELIEFS
- Simplicity is on the other side of complexity. Nothing starts simple, but if you strive for it, you can find it.
- Anyone can be complex and confusing. It takes real leadership and real genius to be simple and understandable.
- A leader can’t move people in the same direction until they are able to reach even the lowest-common-denominator employee.
- It is a false misconception to equate complexity to wisdom. Wisdom is actually the ability to make hard things simple.
- Simple leaders care about being good. Complex leaders care more about looking good.
- Stories, metaphors, pictures, and analogies are all tools that can be applied to make a difficult idea easier to understand.
- If something isn’t simple it is more likely to be forgotten as quickly as it is introduced.
- Simplicity doesn’t mean, “dumbed down.” It means packaging complexity it in a way it can be consumable and useful.
BEST PRACTICES
- Turn complex ideas into simple ideas.
- Don’t complicate things to appear smart.
- Use metaphors to build understanding.
- Explain ideas through simple analogies.
- Don’t shy away from complicated matters.
- Dissect problems into bite-size pieces.
- Reformulate ideas in ways people understand.
- Use stories to teach hard concepts.
- Value simplicity over complexity.
- Narrow down what matters most.
- Cut out things you can do without.
- Find what is at the heart of each issue.
- Have the confidence to appear simple.
- Help people grasp hard concepts.
- Say the same things in multiple ways.
- Make it simple or don’t say or do it at all.
- Believe saying less is better than saying more.
- Don’t stop working until you reach simple.
- Use frameworks to put words into pictures.
- Avoid complicated language or terms.
- Play to the least common denominator.
- Don’t worry so much about looking smart.
SELF-REFLECTION
- Do I have the confidence to make things simple or do I think I need to make things complicated to appear competent?
- Do I work until I find how to make things simple, or do I give up my efforts way too soon?
- Do I help people understand complex ideas, or do I make them try and figure it out on their own?
- Do I break down a complicated issue into more easily consumable parts, or do I try to tackle it all at once?
- Do I target everything I do to the lowest common denominator, or do I overlook those people that need the most help?
- Do I make simplicity the banner I carry into every aspect of my work, or do I allow parts of my work to be overly complex?
- Do I believe that simple is always the best answer, or do I think bigger and better is the right way to go?
- Do I try to make things simple, or do I allow myself to inadvertently complicate things?
WORDS OF CAUTION
- Don’t over-simplify complex issues to the point that the detail and finer points that are important are lost.
- Don’t prioritize sounding and looking like the expert over actually being understood.
- Don’t make things so simple that you dumb them down to the point they aren’t helpful, informative, or actionable.
PSYCHOMETRIC 360 QUESTIONS
- I like to explain how to do things to others.
- I can tell when someone doesn’t understand what I’m saying.
- Big projects never overwhelm me.
- It bothers me when I don’t fully understand each component to a big problem
- People tell me I’m patient.