AIM FOR SIMPLE NOT SIMPLISTIC
“We want a high-performance culture”, “our customer is at the centre of every decision”, “our people are our most important asset!” This may shock you, but I’ve never heard a leader say, “we want a low-performance culture”, “our customers don’t matter” or “our people are our largest liability.”
The challenge lies not in espousing simplistic ideals, no matter how well intentioned. The challenge is that few are prepared to walk through all the complexity, confusion and conflict that’s required to make them real.
Simplistic is superficial; it’s platitudes and cliches. Simple is substantive; it’s precise and profound. As Mark Twain famously said; “if I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.”
For better or worse, there’s only one way to get from simplistic to simple; you must work through complexity.
When I started my doctoral research on leadership transformation, I had already practiced in the field for eight years. By the time I finished, I had done 13 years of practice and five years of research – yet I only figured out what I was really trying to say in the last six weeks of that journey. In retrospect, I’m grateful for all those years walking through complexity – they were the precursor to simplicity.
Simplistic is easy but worthless. Simple is hard but precious. Embrace complexity, it’s your pathway to simple.
INSPIRATION FROM OTHERS
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” – Albert Einstein
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci
QUESTIONS TO REFLECT ON
- Do you typically lean towards simplistic or simple?
- What do you typically do when faced with complexity?
- What is one area where you’re prepared to walk through complexity to get to simple?
If you’d like to receive future blogs, please subscribe here.