Simple Is Nearly Always Better
"Simple is nearly always better. But if it's going to be complicated, then make sure the problem is worth the complexity. A great deal of time is wasted creating complex solutions to relatively unimportant problems." - James Clear, author of Atomic Habits
In working with leaders that “know,” I often find that the breadth and depth that they know about a subject can actually taint their leadership effectiveness. Details, complexity and the length of time it takes to get it all out there for their followers don’t necessarily add up to clarity of direction. In fact, all the information sharing can prevent a leader from sending a clear message for action.
A student of American wars and their leaders recently shared with me WWII General George Marshall’s 1939 training instruction:
Make your orders clear, concise, unmistakable. Cover only the essentials with simple sentences and common words. Remember Moltke’s (Prussian military leader) words: ‘Gentlemen, if an order can be misunderstood, it will be misunderstood.’ Also, your best orders will always fail – if you don’t deliver them on time.
Remember and appreciate the old adage – “Less is more.”
Go ahead and ponder your own leadership communication of late. Clear? Concise? Timely? Now enjoy one last cut on this … a humorous one:
Supposedly there once was a Spartan general who added too much detail. Spartans liked to keep things short. When one of their generals captured a city, he wrote the following dispatch, "City taken." The magistrates fined him for being verbose. "Taken," they said, would have sufficed.
