The Enormous Power of Simplicity

"Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things."     - Isaac Newton

There is enormous power in simplicity.

Complexities, on the other hand, weaken power.

Simplicities clarify while complexities muddy the waters.

Simplicities channel all available resources and power toward the goal, slicing through all obstacles, attitudes, competition, conflicts, drama, distractions, and noise. This power propels an individual and organization toward success and prosperity.

Complexities distract attention and disperse power in all directions, causing struggle and possibly failure.

Complexities lead to and create problems on top of problems. Simplicities solve complex problems.

Most people seem to strive for complexities. Complexities appear to be equated with being intellectual, interesting, deep, cultured, etc. Well, it’s very true that a certain amount of complexity can be interesting, compelling, and even fun. But in terms of leadership and management, complexity acts as an anchor, holding back the organization in various ways.

There is great power in simplicity. How does a business owner or executive achieve such simplicity in his or her business? By knowing and using the most fundamental principles of leadership and management.

The definition of fundamental is the essential nature of something, being an essential part of something; forming a necessary base or core; of central importance; so basic as to be hard to alter or overcome.

If an apple drops from a tree, it will fall to the ground. No one disputes this, no one argues this, and everyone knows this to be true. An apple falls from a tree to the ground because of gravity. Gravity is a natural law, it is a fundamental law. It is a law without exception. Gravity applies everywhere on the planet Earth, or any other planet or star. Gravity doesn’t care if you believe in it or know about it or understand it or like it or dislike it. 

Gravity doesn’t care about anyone’s opinions of it. It does what it does - always, anywhere, in any environment or situation on the planet.

This idea of a natural and fundamental law - a law so fundamental that it applies in all situations and all organizations - isn’t usually applied to business and management. Just the opposite is true. There are hundreds, even thousands, of theories, beliefs, techniques, systems and philosophies of leadership and management. Who thinks there are laws of management and leadership that are as powerful and fundamental as gravity is to nature? Almost no one thinks in these terms.

As a matter of fact, there are fundamental laws of leadership, management, efficiency, people, structure, and organization. The law of gravity is simple and fundamental, and understanding this law leads to the development of planes, helicopters, rockets, satellites and balloons. In much the same way, there are laws of management and organizations and people. Knowing and understanding these laws lead to optimum solutions and systems that work to create the best results for any business - in every situation, in every environment, in any field or industry.

Here are some examples of simplicity and fundamental principals in business and management.

Andre Malraux, the French novelist, historian, and statesman who served as a minister under President Charles de Gaulle in the 1950s and 1960s, wrote, “To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less.”

In this simple statement lies an entire philosophy of effective management and leadership - a philosophy that is extremely successful and effective. A universe of principles is contained within this simple statement. This is one of those Zen-like principles that the more you consider it, the more profound it becomes, the broader are its applications.

And most important, this statement presents the ideal point of view for anyone who is or desires to be in a leadership or management position.

“To command is to serve.” What a concept! It does not express commanding and serving; it states that commanding is serving.

The first question to ask is “Who is one serving while commanding?” One who is in command is actually serving the organization and its people, as well as the customers, clients, or beneficiaries of that organization.

Serve it how? By defining constructive goals and purposes for the organization, and leading it and its people toward them. By doing so, he or she serves

• the organization (by making it successful and lasting),
• its people (by giving them purpose, professionally rewarding jobs, and the means to earn a higher standard of living),
• and its customers, clients, or beneficiaries (by providing them superior products, services, or higher standards of living they need and want).

The larger an organization gets, the more complex it automatically becomes because of the numbers of people and resources to be managed. But if one knows the simplicity of fundamental laws and techniques and tools of leadership and management, then any inherent complexities sort out easily, and the overall task becomes relatively easy.

A second example of a fundamental law in business is the definition of an organization. An organization is very simply a group of competent people united, coordinated and working toward common goals and purposes. Once again, an extremely simple definition that actually expresses a powerful philosophy and contains effective and powerful principles of leadership and management.

- How do you select each person to join this group?

- How do you develop them and increase their competence and abilities?

- How do you unite them? How are they organized?

- How do you get them to work as one well-oiled, efficient and productive team in pursuit of the same goals?

If a leader adopts the simple yet profound and powerful attitude to command is to serve, and if he or she creates or maintains an organization where the competent people in it act as a united team all working toward the same goals and purposes, then he or she would be well on their way to becoming an exceptional leader and manager. This attitude alone would channel all his or her thinking, all energies, all the planning, all decisions, and all actions - such that all of these would be generally right and successful, and therefore, the organization would achieve its goals and be successful.

Of course there is a little more to management and leadership than this. But these simplicities themselves divide into a sequence of other fundamental principles of leadership and management, principles which themselves are simple yet produce excellent results. Some of these will be addressed in Part II.

The power of simplicity. To command is to serve is simple yet enormously powerful once understood and applied. An organization is a team of competent people united, coordinated and working toward common goals and purposes is a very simple definition of an organization, and yet in that simple definition are contained much of what any leader needs to know about managing people effectively. Two simple statements that contain a universe of leadership and management laws and principles. If these laws and principles are followed exactly, the results are fantastic.

There is enormous power in simplicity. When you find yourself in situations that are overwhelming or impossible, or you are so overloaded that you cannot act effectively, or find yourself mentally paralyzed, then realize you have lost sight of the simplicities and are mired in complexities. Applying fundamental principles, tools and actions will bail you out of any situation or condition.

So the trick is to know what those fundamental principles are. Part II covers some of these principles and laws of business and management.

© 2018 by Joseph Kerner. All rights reserved.