6 min.

The beauty of simplicity in the whirlwind world of business – ‘The Wyseway’ series review 3

by Julie Perkins

Simplicity is hard to achieve but having a clear purpose can go a long way towards helping you reach it by unifying everyone around what it is you stand for.

The power of purpose brings greater simplicity by ensuring agreed ways of working and support for changes that you, the founder, set out to make. 

This is the beginning of simplicity using the powerball (more below) which helps unite your team and what it is there to do. 

Simplicity makes it easier for everyone in all parts of a business to get – and stay – involved. Your team is an ecosystem and thinking of how to connect and align them to your purpose, vision and core message will make it far easier to achieve success.

This applies to your external team (business partners, distributors, suppliers, investors and customers) and your internal team (employees, trainees or volunteers).

KISS and keep it simple (stupid)  

As Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, knew, it’s hard work to achieve simplicity. It’s often the first thing to be put to one side while your thinking is focused on juggling to-do lists instead of simplifying ways of working so your company is better able to meet the demands that growth brings like new products, services, regions and business areas. Founder's story cartoon Wyseminds

Keep It Simple Stupid, or KISS as it’s commonly known, is a design principle that’s been used for decades to ensure that wherever possible, systems and processes should try to incorporate simplicity at every step for the greatest chance of human acceptance and interaction.  

The same goes for business. 

If simplicity is not a part of yours, the opposite will move in – complexity. And that’s when purpose gets hidden and your people become exhausted, confused and demotivated. 

When purpose is obscured

If simplicity unites teams and makes it easier for people in every part of your business to get – and stay – involved, complexity does the opposite. 

It obscures purpose which makes organisations rudderless. Combine this with old processes, clunky systems, too many objectives and blurred reporting lines and you can see how quickly complexity and hidden purpose can derail progress. 

Purpose helps align individual employees and acts as a tool for assessing opportunities and risks while keeping your team ecosystem clutter-free. That way, not only will your internal team find it easier and less time-consuming to get work done, but there will be a lower chance that your external team will lose faith in your company’s ability to deliver. 

So what do we mean by simplicity? Put simply (of course), it’s the act of making things clear and understood. It doesn’t mean dumbing down – it means clarity of language and communication built around your core purpose.

When time, energy and resources are spent on activities that do not create value and instead start to damage performance, you know complexity is at play.

Studies show that companies with low levels of complexity, where it’s “easy to get things done”, have the highest returns. Furthermore, reducing complexity saves money and improves employee satisfaction, according to a report by McKinsey.

Crushing complexity by rolling out the Powerball 

At Wyseminds, we work with many female entrepreneurs who are keen to introduce more simple, straight-forward ways of working but need a little guidance on how to do it.  

In our book The Wyseway we discuss The Powerball, a tool you can roll out in your company to navigate away from the dead-end. If your organisation is drowning in complexity, the powerball can crush it and help you re-find the purpose that has become obscured along the way.

The tool can be used to achieve alignment in four areas (or drivers) that are integral for growth: team, business, customers and purpose.

Think of it like an MOT for your organisational engine; when the four drivers are in balance, the powerball is like an energy source fuelling growth. But when one area is out of alignment (and in this example we are talking about your team), it will drain your company’s power. 

Simplicity for balance and flow

For your team to feel a sense of purpose, you need to ensure they are clear on what they’re there for and understand their contribution towards your company’s purpose. That way, everyone pulls in the same direction.

At Wyseminds, we have years of experiencing and mastering the challenges of achieving simplicity in business. We can help you do the same so that when future growth occurs your company has the resilience to weather the inevitable shifts to internal and external forces.

The Wyseway is written as a guide for all female founders who want a return to the equilibrium they had within their teams at the beginning. 

Learn how you too can achieve this by implementing small, simple steps. The book is available in the Wyseminds shop here or register on our support programme Your Journey for a free copy.