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Simplicity-minded management

Posted by mwelch December 7, 2007 03:41 PM

Source: Harvard Business Review

Large organizations are like riverbeds, each year layer upon layer of complexity gets added. Well-intended responses to business challenges can make it so "more energy is devoted to navigating the labyrinth than to achieving results." Take this simple test to see if your company needs to go on a simplicity diet. To combat complexity make simplicity a hard business objective and address all of its causes, including "structural mitosis, product proliferation, process evolution, and managerial habits." Make you feel exhausted just thinking about it? That's why it often doesn't get done. Simple is hard.

Related:
Simple - The new differentiator
Simplexity
Easy is the new hard
Less is more

http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/flatmm/hbrextras/200712/ashkenas/index.html

tags management, simplicity
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