The Power of Simplicity

It is a key test for leaders: Can you take complex tasks – like working through countless variables for, say, your organization’s values or strategic goals – and distill them into a short list that everyone can remember?
And just how short should the list be?
I would suggest no more than three, at the most.
The CEOs I interview each week for my Corner Office series offer regular reminders of the power of simplicity. In last week’s interview with Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of YouSendit, he described the new cultural values that he helped develop after he was brought in to help turn the company around.
It’s a short and punchy list – “Be in. Be Real. Be Bold.” – and it’s memorable.
I’ll let him explain what they mean:
“‘Be in’ is all about passion. Life is short. There are so many interesting things we can do in our life, and I feel like if someone is just kind of showing up, it’s not worth it for them or for us.
“The second value, ‘be real,’ is really about being authentic in our communication. I have seen different cultures in my career that I felt had atrophied and needed revitalization, and they were the ones where you just didn’t feel like people were being real in terms of their communication. You’d sit in a meeting and work through something and think you got somewhere, and then you walk out of the room and someone’s putting the parking brake on and you don’t even know they’re doing that.
“And the last one’s about being bold. As some companies grow and develop, that instinct is almost beaten out of the system. To me, if we’re not failing a little bit, we’re not trying hard enough. I think great cultures encourage risk and are tolerant of failure. If you don’t do that, you’re going to end up with a culture that is stagnant and not thinking about the next generation of products and experiences.”
The repetition of “be” helps make it stick, but so does the fact that there are only three values. It seems to be the sweet spot for what our brain can remember day-to-day. If a company has eight values, can the employees really be expected to remember them all? Think about a time you had to make a quick run to the grocery store – if you have to pick up eight things, it’s a good bet you’ll be reaching for a scrap of paper to make a list before you head out the door.
What’s better than three? How about two?
Robert LoCascio of LivePerson, shared the story with me of how he worked with his employees to boil his company’s values down to just two.
“I invited everyone into the process, and I provided context to the whole thing. I remember that I had an all-company call and said: ‘You know what? We’ve done amazing things. We went from $20 million to $100 million in five years. We should be very proud, and we should congratulate ourselves. And now we are going to move forward, and we need to design a different environment, a different company. So let’s acknowledge that we’re going to do that as a team, as a company.’
“And we ended up all going to Israel, where our research offices are. All the employees, more than 300 of them, came. I remember some people said: ‘I don’t want to come. This is dumb.’ There was a lot of friction. But everyone came, and we spent three days doing this cultural evaluation. We were in small groups of 20, and we sat in circles. The first day people were like: ‘I don’t know what’s going on here. This is kind of crazy. It’s a little Kumbaya-ish.’
“We had 40 core values at that point — innovation, customer first, all the typical ones and then a bunch of other ones. Then, on the second day, we started to get more reflective about what all this meant. We eventually got to two core values: be an owner and help others. Be an owner is about us being owners as individuals, driving the business, and helping others is about being reflective and understanding that we’re in a community here. We can’t be selfish. And so that’s where we ended up with our core values, and it was a really fascinating process.”
This skill – to create simplicity out of complexity – is one that separates people as they move up in an organization. I call it a “Simple Mindset,” and it’s one of the five qualities that I've identified in my book -- “The Corner Office: Indispensable and Unexpected Lessons from CEOs on How to Lead and Succeed.” – to help explain why some people get promoted over others, all the way to the top of an organization.
Have you seen examples of leaders putting their “simple mindset” into action?
Please share your insights and other thoughts on this topic. I’ll be writing frequently for LinkedIn, so please follow me. Thanks!

(Photo credit: Yuganov Konstantin / Shutterstock.com)

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Benny T.
Senior Manager, Operational Advisory at Grant Thornton Australia
I find distilling complexity to simplicity a great art that is appreciated. I have had numerous occasions where I have drawn pictures to represent complex industrial awards which have been well received. You can only simplify complexity if you have gone through it the hard way, and you simplify it as part of continuous improvement. It simplifies the perspective of the person who configures the complex requirements in the system and the perspective of the client who tests the requirements.
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Boaz T.
Business Development Manager at Inviqa (formerly Ibuildings UK)
I agree that there is something in the number 3. I worked with my team to simplify our prospect qualification process to just 3 words. We are now able to qualify every prospect in just a few minutes. Simple checklist, simple to go through during the initial engagement, and it also forces the sales team to ask questions first, instead of "rushing to the demo."
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Ben D.
CEO - MaxCI Maximizing Community Investments, Inc. (Enhance 501(c)(3) org. dev. & funding; other benefits to grantors).
The supreme motivator - KISS (shows my age) and the 4th "B" is to Beget one for your own company.
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Megan D.
Sr. Program Manager - Individual Contributor at Microsoft
As an avid believer in the KISS principle, I highly admire the direction these CEOs are smart enough to take.
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Anne Marie M.
Cargo Global Sales Manager at Aer Lingus
Nothing worse than getting bogged down in bureaucracy, complexity compounded by those who like to hear themselves speak. Clear thinking and clarity of spoken word works so much better...that old saying, keep it simple!
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Mike H.
Freelance Consultant; Specialising in Asset Based Approaches to Community Engagement, Public Health and Action Learning
Great reminder. Couldn't agree more about the three values chosen as well.
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Azaria W.
Manager: Settlement & Sponsorship Programs
Waw. It is very much true. I was just meeting two gentle men who are facilitating a workshop and we were just saying how to keep it simple.
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Adrian B.
Director and Financial Planner at ProAktive
Great stuff. Direct and to the point. Memorable.
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Abdallah M.
* Creator & Developer in Wireless ( live broadcasting ), IPTV systems.
I Think The Simplicity Sometimes Wanted and not according to the Surrounding environment .
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Sally C.
Educational Specialist ; self-employed
I like the emphasis on individuals as owners of something and acknowledgement of the reality that we are in community.
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Kirsten S.
Chief Stick-Figurist at Roney Macaroni
I love that phrase "creating simplicity out of complexity" - it's exaclty what I love about my stick-figure card company, Roney Macaroni. If a stick figure can get the point across, i've accomplished simple and effective communication! :)
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Chitra Rajeshwari 2^nd
Business Development
'Simplicity" if possible and when needed is my mantra.
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Kehinde B.
Corps Member
Your learn how to be simple, we just have to learn the craft. Takes more time however, but its worth the sacrifice.
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Lee L.
Independent Non-Profit Organization Management Professional
If 6 words clearly states a philosophy of a leader, then why did he need 3 paragraphs to explain it. I am concerned about our needing to boil everything down to a sound bite. The result sometimes may be catchy but does everyone get the intended message?
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Peter A.
Commercial Director Ostendorf UK Ltd, Director of Sales Scandinavia, J. W. Ostendorf GmbH & Co. KG
Simply Excellent
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Claudio W.
Compatilytics-The Science of using Strategic Analytics to Assess the Desire and Success of CoWorkers.
Sounds great if your situation is in reactive mode. I preach being Proactive and seeking out ways to find out what is compatible at core levels between coworkers Before hiring them. Thus, exponentially driving the success in collaboration within a corporate environment. I call it Compatilytics.
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Alex M.
Information Technology and Services Professional
"...if we’re not failing a little bit, we’re not trying hard enough." +1
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Lauren G.
Project Manager at Providence Health & Services
Be in. Be real. Be bold. I love it.
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Vlad M.
Freelance Translator in English to Russian Direction (island-vlad)
Simplicity of meditation and writing... Has anyone noticed that all classical writers just follow this rule?
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Gary P.
president of gap intelligence
Brilliant.
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