How Complicated is it to Be Simple?
In every company or government agency where we find a showcase simplification project, we find an individual who is the driving force behind it.
Great simplifiers share intolerance for the status quo, impatience with the rules, and boundless optimism. They view simplicity as a virtue for its own sake—as well as a sign of productivity, integrity, and fairness. While simplicity appeals to the logical, it also touches on the spiritual.
Who are the enemies of simplicity? I have found they gravitate toward certain professions, notably law and technology. In both cases, jargon, convolution, and obscurity are rewarded rather than decried.
What makes a simplification project work? These ten principles are critical.
- Get senior management on board
When top management believes in simplicity and transparency and won’t tolerate deviation from those beliefs, employees cannot use mumbo-jumbo as a shield. If executives don’t stress that clarity is the expectation, employees tend to take the easier path of complexity. This requires real commitment by top executives—clear calls with investment analysts, direct, forceful speeches, and no double-talk at employee pep rallies. - Look outside your specialty
Great simplifiers all look to outsiders for inspiration. When Philips Electronics wanted to transform an engineering-dominated company into one guided by “sense and simplicity,” they created an advisory board with representatives from medicine, transportation, and fashion. At Chubb Insurance, where they transformed property casualty policies into customized, plain-English documents, they simply took writing out of the hands of lawyers and delegated it to professional writers. At ING Direct, they deliberately recruited non-bankers who question and challenge the status quo. In each case, the companies recognized that familiarity leads to myopia and that subject-matter experts rarely see things the way customers do. - Bake simplicity in
Simplification is more often used as a cure than a vaccine. Simplifying often exposes the inanity of an underlying process, product, or service. The classic example is the more you explain the federal tax code, the more evident and ridiculous special-interest exemptions, credits, and deductions become. Like preventive medicine, permeating the product development process with the notion of simplicity saves companies from having to cure complexity at later stages. So, if you find yourself apologizing for how complicated or bureaucratic something is, don’t just keep explaining it in different ways—instead go out and fix it. - Make more of less
Many companies just don’t know when to stop. Proliferating features and product variations lead to excessive cost and customer confusion. Simplifiers, like ING Direct, limit their product line to savings, CDs, funds, and mortgages so that the customer is not overwhelmed by choices, and the bank can easily serve its customers. They also realize that fewer products, processes, and communications translate to cost savings. ING Direct operates nationally with a staff of just 1,000 employees, and operating costs are about one-third of traditional banks. - Simplify everything
Companies only scratch the surface of simplicity if they focus on plain language and clear design. Considering less obvious dimensions of simplicity—speed, convenience, customization, etc.—is the key to creating a “wow” factor for customers. The convenience of cashing in loose change at Commerce bank even if you aren’t their customer, makes them seem easy to do business with. Consider clarity, utility, and aesthetic appeal to achieve holistic simplicity. - Take it public
By advertising a promise of simplicity, companies often force themselves to live up to it. Philips promised the market with an aggressive and widespread ad campaign touting “sense and simplicity” so it couldn’t regress without losing face. It’s also a clever way to encourage recalcitrant employees who may be comfortable with the status quo to embrace new, simpler ways of doing business. - Start with the customer
Customizing content based on customers’ information needs is a brave decision. Customization is a form of simplicity because it involves winnowing down information and increasing relevancy. Tailoring a cell phone instruction manual so it only includes the features you purchased makes it shorter and easier to understand. Through customization, even the largest company can achieve the illusion that they are speaking to only you. - Anticipate needs, don’t just respond
The old adage about “not knowing what you don’t know” is quite true. Companies help customers by anticipating their questions and providing educational help as well as mandated information. Nothing is more frustrating than living through an experience only to learn later what you really needed to know. Companies that deal with the infrequent events of life—illness, natural disasters, death, major financial events—can do much more to educate customers about the benefits and consequences of choices. - See it as a journey, not a destination
Chubb recognizes that maintaining clarity is a never-ending process and that changes must be integrated with, not appended to existing documents. Intuit values customer testing and recognizes iteration as a valuable tool, not a costly nuisance. Once something has been simplified, it should be revisited periodically to ensure that technology, legal changes, or marketplace conditions haven’t necessitated updates. - Don’t let systems and legal rule
Great simplifiers don’t let systems capabilities and legal limitations dictate communications features; it’s the other way around. The most common mistake I encounter is major companies allowing the legal department to tyrannize the rest of the company. Lawyers should be viewed as subject-matter experts, not writers. They should be asked to edit for legal sufficiency only.
Is simplification complicated? Yes and no. It takes time, perseverance, and attention to a host of details to achieve it—and when, at last, it starts to happen—it looks obvious and easy.