"Complexity is Your Enemy"

An often-overlooked business need today is simplicity. It is all too easy to become entangled by the demands of running the business, pleasing customers, and staying in compliance. It takes discipline and vigilance to take a step back and review your own processes. With limited hours in the day, the question is not, “How can you fit everything in,” but rather, “How can you do your work most effectively?“

Why do we need to step back and review our organizations? Isn’t that just adding to the list of responsibilities? Yes. However, if done effectively, you can gain efficiencies in your business and keep your sanity. Sir Richard Branson (the founder and CEO of the Virgin empire) says, "Complexity is your enemy.”

The answer to creating simplicity is often to delegate tasks that do not fit, add value for you to perform, or do not have the expertise to do so efficiently.

Overly complex systems drain resources because they are inefficient. It may look like a lot of work is happening, but not a lot is getting done. Complex systems are harder to maintain and keep in compliance. It may have started out innocently enough, such as your business went through a period of rapid growth. However, it behooves you to sit back and review how well your current systems perform and where you’d like to see improvement.

You may be able to accomplish everything by yourself, but there could be a hidden cost to doing so if it requires you to sacrifice personal obligations or ignore your health. Remember to keep it simple. Simplicity is deciding where to best focus your time and to delegate the rest to employees or advisors. Simplicity is the ongoing refinement of your business model to cut out inefficiencies and create the most value with your time and effort.

If complexity is the enemy, then simplicity is your ally.