MAR 25-29 | What's Holding You Back - Unnecessary Complexity
When it comes to growth, there’s good news and bad news.
The good news is that you absolutely can grow as a leader. The bad news is that continued growth requires work to sustain.
Growth is never automatic or guaranteed. We don’t naturally drift toward growth. We drift toward complacency, complexity, and decline.
Below, let’s look at three forces fighting against your growth and give you practical strategies to fight back.
2. UNNECESSARY COMPLEXITY
Growth creates complexity and complexity kills growth.
One of your top responsibilities as a leader is to kill complexity. If you operate with complexity, you cannot operate with speed.
Many leaders experience initial growth and then taper off as they become successful. They can’t seem to ever get back to a season of rapid growth because they allowed complexity to take over.
FIGHT BACK AGAINST COMPLEXITY
Remove low-value rules, meetings, and distractions.
Great leaders lose their greatness when they start (or continue) doing things that don’t add value.
Any activities that don’t add value or things that cost more emotional and physical energy than they’re worth should be reevaluated.
Ask yourself, “Is this activity really moving the needle in my life?” Don’t confuse activity with productivity.
Look for anything that slows your pace or complicates the process. Do your best to eliminate organizational and leadership slack. Try these four practical steps:
Kill a rule.
Cut a meeting.
Remove a policy.
Empower a person.
Repeat the process until only the most important things have priority.
A verse that addresses the idea of avoiding unnecessary complexity, particularly in the context of simplicity and sincerity in faith, is 2 Corinthians 11:3:
"But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ."
This verse warns against being led astray by overcomplication or deception, much like Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning. It advocates for a sincere and pure devotion to Christ, implying that simplicity in one's faith is valuable and important. While not explicitly mentioning unnecessary complexity, it suggests the danger of straying into convoluted or deceptive thinking, moving away from the straightforward and genuine devotion that is desired.