Hacking Leadership: The 11 Gaps Every Business Needs to Close and the Secrets to Closing Them Quickly

Chapter 10

Hacking the Complexity Gap

Complexity is the enemy of the productive—it stifles creativity, slows progress, increases costs, inhibits confidence, and erodes culture.

I want you to put on your consumer hat for a moment and answer this question: What do you do when you encounter complexity as part of the purchasing process? If you’re anything like me, you disengage and look to make your purchase elsewhere. What do you do when you experience complexity in the service arena? Again, if you’re anything like me you look for another company to service your business.

When it comes to business and leadership, complexity is never your friend. There’s an old saying in the software business that usability drives adoptability—it’s not just true in the software business. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t prefer simplicity to complexity. Have you ever had a question, issue, or concern and needed to contact a company only to find out they don’t even list a phone number? Does it matter to you that as a paying customer that company has gone out of their way not to talk to you?

It is almost as if business people have come to believe that complexity is synonymous with sophistication and savvy. It has been my experience that the only things that “complexity” is synonymous with are increased costs and failed implementations. Complexity is precisely what plagues many businesses.

You don’t solve complicated matters by adding to the complexity. The most effective way to deal with complexity is ...