On keeping it simple

 ON KEEPING IT SIMPLE 

"Keep it simple."

Anyone who has worked with me has probably heard me say those words more than once. In meetings, in assemblies, in conversations with leadership teams, and sometimes even with students. It is a phrase I come back to often because I have seen how much trouble starts when we move away from it.

We seem to live in an age that rewards complexity.

People speak in jargon. They write in language that sounds impressive but says very little. Tasks that should be straightforward somehow acquire layers of forms, procedures, and explanations. What began as something simple becomes something exhausting.

I have never understood the attraction. Surely beats me!

Some of the most effective people I have met over the decades  were also the simplest. They spoke clearly. They wrote in a way that everyoneunderstood. They knew what they were  trying to achieve and got on with it. 

There was no performance. No unnecessary drama. No effort to sound more important than they were. Today things have changed. 

In this modern day and age , keeping it simple is likely to get you looked down upon . 

It is easy to hide behind complicated language. It is much harder to express an idea so clearly that everyone understands it.

 The same applies to leadership. A leader's role is not to leave people confused by clever words. It is to provide clarity. To make the path ahead easier to see.

The truth is that life is already complicated enough.

People carry pressures we know nothing about. Families, finances, health concerns, deadlines, responsibilities. Most are dealing with far more than they ever show. The last thing they need is someone making their day harder through poor communication or unnecessary complexity.

Over the years, I have found that simplicity rarely lets you down. A simple message. A simple plan. A simple act of kindness. A simple conversation.

These things work.

So I continue to repeat those three words.

Keep it simple.

Not because simplicity is easy, but because it is often the hardest thing to achieve. And when you do achieve it, people understand you, trust you, and follow you.

There is a lesson in that for all of us.