1. Make simplicity part of your business strategy
Simplicity should not be seen solely as a nice virtue for employees to exhibit — it has to become part of the organisational strategy. This ambition needs to be translated into specific targets to tackle complexity, with clear ambitions for identified areas of improvement. Employee performance metrics can also be designed to stimulate simple outcomes.
2. Adapt the internal processes
If you expect employees to deliver simple solutions, they need to operate in an environment as simple as possible. Reducing organisational layers is usually a good place to start: with fewer layers, people closer to the action receive more responsibility to be proactive, simplifying control procedures and decision-making because less time and process is needed to coordinate or inform multiple levels of the company.
3. Encourage collaboration
Knowledge is a strong enabler of simplification. Everyone performs better with a greater understanding of who does what in the company. Achieving simplicity at scale requires a culture of sharing knowledge — collaboration fosters free flows of information and can replace rigid procedures. Reward and recognise staff members who take collaborative initiatives.
4. Clarify the governance
You won't achieve simplicity without a clearly defined decision structure. Uncertainty about who has the authority to decide is a major source of complexity. Creating decision structures — councils or committees with well-defined scope — can simplify decision processes for transversal projects, and empowering employees at the grassroots level reduces complexity for initiating new projects or reacting to poor performance.
5. Show leadership
Every cultural change requires leadership. As simplicity must be taken into account by all employees in their own jobs, you'll have to educate and onboard people — which requires good communication skills, the ability to confront and overcome roadblocks, charisma, empathy, and being a role model for simplicity.
Frequently asked questions
Can simplicity really be treated as a strategic objective, not just a value?
Yes — it needs specific targets and performance metrics tied to identified complexity hotspots, otherwise it stays a nice sentiment with no operational impact.
Why does reducing organisational layers help simplify a company?
Fewer layers mean people closer to the action get more responsibility and autonomy, which cuts the coordination and reporting overhead that drives complexity.
What's the biggest source of complexity inside most organisations?
Unclear governance — uncertainty about who has the authority to make a specific decision, which can be resolved with clearly scoped decision structures like councils or committees.
