This post is about doing things simpler, easier, and better.
A new attitude cropped up after a recent weekend on silent retreat. If you have nothing to do but just sit and “be” and you remain quiet enough, you begin to see how simple things really are and how the the mind likes to complicate matters. I notice that once my mind has hold of an idea, it loves to explore it, chew on it, expand it, disagree with it, analyze it, add to it, etc.
Not that there’s anything wrong with this activity, goodness knows: Many great inventions and discoveries have been made though just this process. But when the mind takes something that is relatively simple and then creates all kinds of complications around it, the process can complicate our lives and the lives of others.
This contrast illustrates the importance of challenging how things have “always been done.”
In one instance, I responded to a formal Request for Proposal from a municipal agency that was unnecessarily complex and time-consuming, requiring extensive documentation, unclear questions, and rigid submission requirements. Completing the proposal took more than 24 hours and ultimately produced no result, as the project was canceled shortly after submission.
By contrast, another city department issued a streamlined, informal RFP that focused only on essential information: a short set of questions, key topics, and a résumé. The response took less than an hour to complete and conveyed essentially the same information as the lengthy formal proposal.
The difference was not the quality of the outcome, but the efficiency of the process. One approach relied on outdated, cumbersome procedures; the other achieved the same goal by simplifying the request to what truly mattered. This example highlights how reexamining entrenched practices can significantly reduce wasted time and effort without sacrificing effectiveness.
At work, see if you continue to go through a complicated process every day just because that’s the way it’s always been done. Are you complicating a task that’s actually relatively simple, just because you think it requires more intellectual rigor? How about your instructions to others? Are you confusing people by asking too many questions and getting farther and farther away from the core issue?
If you find yourself sitting in a meeting and can’t remember why it was called, ask yourself, “What’s the real issue here? Have we gone down a road that leads us in a much more complicated direction? Are we spending too much time on something that’s really not all that important and, in doing so, side-tracking the real issues? For example, have we just spent the last hour wrangling over the issue of where to hold the company Christmas party when our sales have slipped for the fourth month in a row? Can we table everyone’s opinions for a moment to clarify what we’re really doing here?”
I’ve developed a new mantra that seems to be working for me: simpler, easier, better. Try saying that to yourself this week and see what happens.
Kathleen