THEME OF THE MONTH: SIMPLIFY
Simplify means making something easier to understand, easier to explain, and easier to do. As we move into the last quarter, is your plan simple enough to finish?
This is when teams find out whether they’ll hit their annual goals. And the holidays are coming for your calendar either way: fewer working days, slower weeks.
Here’s what I notice every year at this point: when a team feels stuck, the first instinct is to add more. More tools, more meetings, more steps. The goal isn’t fewer systems. It’s less complexity.
Picture a restaurant with a six-page menu. Forty-plus options, and most are average at best. Now picture one sheet of paper with five items, and every one is exceptional. Fewer choices means better work and an easier decision for your customer.
A good system works like that second menu. It cuts the clutter and gives your team one simple way to run.
Where could you cut? Start with your plan, your processes, and your priorities. Then ask: is it as simple as possible?
If your team can’t explain the plan in a sentence or two, it’s too complicated.
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
- Is your business operating as the six-page menu or the five-item sheet?
- If you could only keep three things in your plan for the rest of the year, what would they be?
- Where is your team working around a process instead of following it?
CHALLENGE FOR THE MONTH
Pick one thing that feels more complicated than it should (a process, a meeting, a message). Ask “is it as simple as possible?” and simplify it before October 31st.