Ever find yourself asking “Why does it have to be so complicated?”
I have! It’s the question you ask when you’re trying to get something seemingly simple done, only to end up in a tangled web of processes, forms, approvals, and protocol – frustrating isn’t it?
Us humans seem to have this innate desire to over complicate, well, everything!
If you’re guilty of this, or have experienced it, keep reading.
In many of the things we do, in both our personal and professional lives, we find we have a range of options available to us. The urge is often, “oh, I’ll use that” or “I’ll add this here, and do that there” – we can’t help ourselves!
I’ve done it. I’ve been that person that over-engineers a simple spreadsheet to make it an all singing, all dancing complex work of art. Brilliant? Yes. Necessary? No.
I’ve learned since those days, just because you can, does NOT mean you should!
Many of us have worked in that place where certain tasks just seem overly complex, often unnecessarily so. There’s a fifty-nine step process when you could it in six!
Perhaps you’ve needed to use a service where there’s a lengthy drawn out process, and numerous hoops you have to jump through just to get to the one thing that you’re entitled to. It can be so frustrating.
I’ve experienced it in a range of different environments, trust me, it happens everywhere. Colleagues will add a process step here, an additional check there, an extra form for completion at this stage and then, just for good measure, four people will need to sign it off.
Before you realise it, you’ve turned a one hour task in to a four week project!
It’s so easy (and fun) to get carried away. Often it’s because we are attempting to show how clever we are, or, when a new feature becomes available within the technology you use.
Any idiot can overcomplicate things!
The REAL genius comes in simplifying.
Focus on removing all the waste in processes, that is, the stuff that doesn’t really serve a purpose or add value. This approach has helped me drive process improvements as well as improve staff and customer satisfaction. Efficiency and effectiveness might not sound like fun, but it’s not much fun working harder than you need to either.
So, whatever it is you’re designing, creating, producing, reviewing, or processes you own, do your best to make it accessible, user-friendly, clear, easy, accurate, free from duplication, effective, and most importantly, efficient.
In other words, KEEP. IT. SIMPLE.
The acronym K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple, Stupid! is said to have originated with the US Navy in the 1960s but, whatever context you’re in, that should always be your aim.
Think about when you’re designing processes, writing procedures, or undertaking activities – is there duplication of effort? Are there steps that don’t really make any difference? Have you included checks at certain stages, just in case? Are you actually just creating bottlenecks? If so, simplify it.
Remember, just because something has always been done like that, doesn’t mean it always has to be.
Writing reports or business cases? Think about your audience. Does all that jargon help? Do you really need to provide every detail of the inner workings of your team? Probably not. Less really is more and you can make a stronger, clearer argument which is more likely to be approved by removing the noise.
You’ll see examples of KISS applied everywhere. Think about your Amazon purchases – one of the reasons Amazon is so successful is because it’s so easy. Easy to find what you want, and within very few clicks, you’ve bought it, and it’ll arrive tomorrow. Genius.
Conclusion
Why am I doing this? This really is the ultimate question you need to ask. In my experience, managers, teams, and departments achieve the most success when they have removed the waste. All of the unnecessary things that don’t really improve what they’re doing.
Keep it simple and you’ll improve motivation, morale, efficiency, and overall job satisfaction.
I’ve always strived to get to the point where you could bring someone off the street with zero knowledge or experience of what the team does, and they could work their way through processes to complete a task.
Remember, this is a skill. It can be difficult to simplify and will take time, effort and practice to develop and fine tune your capabilities but, if you think you can, you will.
Think Can Will 