At a time when efficiency and productivity at work are at a premium, why do so many managers feel like they're working harder, under more stress, but achieving less? Ashkenas argues that you can take back control by simplifying how work gets done. But critically, this is not just about streamlining or 'going back to basics'; it entails a mindset shift that ultimately should permeate the entire culture of the organisation.
So what causes complexity in the first place?
The author acknowledges that creating complexity is not intentional or conscious. Nobody goes to work thinking "how can I make it really tough for people to get things done?" However, through natural forces of business and competition, technology and regulation, over time four areas of complexity emerge through:
- Constant changes in organisational structures
- Unchecked growth of products and services (for example, the 'baroque complexity' of subprime debts that contributed to the financial crisis)
- Elaborate and impractical processes (for example, some of the complicated regulatory and risk-management requirements intended to avoid the sort of crises caused by complexity in the first place!)
- Confusion-creating management behaviours (a common yet seemingly innocuous example is when people automatically 'reply all' on an email response that is actually irrelevant to most of the recipients)
A roadmap for simplicity
Ashkenas proposes a five step iterative loop to work towards achieving simplicity:
- Declare Simplicity a Business Imperative - this is the key challenge
- Restructure the work and consequent organisation structure to reduce complexity
- Achieve early results ("quick wins") through process and product simplification
- Sustain momentum through clear and constant communication
- Repeat over time
"Things should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler"Albert Einstein