Sure if you take something simple and you complicate it, it will make you look smarter in certain circles: it’s called bureaucracy & red tape. But . . . is there a cost associated with complexity? You bet your P&L that there is, it’s hidden away in such items as: training, development, temp staffing, overtime. If you really simplify and streamline, you will find that you’ll need less people on staff, therefore less furniture, therefore less office space. You will have a WOW! moment.

How to check the cost of complexity: outsource your operations. I am not talking about hiring contract workers or consultants in lieu of employees, I am talking about finding an outfit that will take over your operation on a pay-for-action basis, where the bulk of the cost is directly related to the number of tasks to be performed.

If you work with someone who has been in the business for a long time, they are masters at algorithmizing your business. Algorithmize: I just made this word up, signifying breaking down your operations in step-by-step procedures. If your operations are loosely based on principles, but relying on one-offs solutions on a continuous basis, with so many exceptions and “what ifs” that the related documentation fills heavy tomes, and the flow charts resembles more a Jackson Pollock painting than a Mondrian.

Start with your business model. Can you explain it to your mom by using only a marker and ONE cocktail napkin? Two is OK, but if you need three and your mom doesn’t get it, you are in trouble. What about your hierarchy? Do you have more chiefs than you have workers? Can the people in Customer Service explain to you in 30 seconds or less what it is that they do? It’s hard to let go of (bad) habits, it’s easy to make exceptions for the sake of “flexibility”.

Leadership decisions are the hardest to make, and the hardest decisions are the ones that will allow your company to reap the greatest benefits.

Make sure you have the vision to discern simplicity from stupidity, and that you have the change in you, that you believe in it, that the change is a natural extension of you, not an item to check off in your to-do list. Authenticity is one of the pillars of change.

Simplicity is a simple way to attain a competitive advantage.