“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex…. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.”
This quote from Albert Einstein can be simplified in the following acronym, KISS (Keep It Simple, Silly). While no one wants to be called a fool or regarded as silly, it seems to be part of human nature to complicate things. (If there are any doubts, just try to understand all the intricacies of the stock market.)
On the other hand, there’s a growing desire to simplify our busy and complicated lives. We have a magazine called “Real Simple,” a juice called “Simply Orange” and “Simple Pleasures” chocolates, to name just a few examples of this trend.
When it comes to the workplace, it still remains pretty complicated. All you need do is check out the business section of your local bookstore to see how complex it has become. Imagine this scenario if you will: If you stacked up all the books written on business practices, leadership and customer service, they’d reach from here to the moon!
I’m starting to realize that all the literature, every “flavor-of-the-month” initiative and best-practice benchmarks can all be boiled down to one basic idea and seven simple practices. If applied consistently, they will forever change our perspective on the workplace, resulting in brand loyalty, employee retention and skyrocketing profitability.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I must admit that I’m in the process of co-authoring yet another book on business. However, this book will stand out from the rest, providing revolutionary ideas and a fun genre like none other currently on the market. I don’t want to give too much away too soon, so I’ll leave it at that for now. In the meantime, here’s an assignment: Think about this simple question regarding your business: “What really matters?” Can you come up with a simple answer?