Why Simplicity Scales and Complexity Fails: The Key to Business Success in a Busy World

Janine: [00:00:00] Hello, and welcome to another episode of Unleashing Brilliance with me, Janine Garner. I hope you're all doing fabulously well, wherever you are listening from today. Now, tell me this, how many times have you found yourself saying, I just need to add one more thing, one more step, one more feature. Be honest, because whether it's a [00:01:00] product, a process, or even just figuring out how to tackle your day to day tasks, we are all masters at adding more complexity, thinking it will help us scale, thinking it will impress, thinking it will make us better.

But here's the truth. Simplicity scales and complexity fails

We get so bogged down in adding layers, thinking the more that we have, the more successful we'll be. But today we're going to strip it all back. We're going to dive deep into why less is truly more, why the most successful businesses thrive on and how you can start decluttering both your business and your mind to to scale with ease.

So grab your coffee or tea, get comfortable and let's get started. So So let's start by addressing the big elephant in the room. We've all been conditioned to believe that [00:02:00] complexity is a sign of sophistication. It's like if your business model isn't complicated or your marketing strategy doesn't involve 12 different social media platforms, are you even really trying? We see this everywhere, right? You know, think about the tech world for a second. I'm sure many of you remember the days when Microsoft Word would add new features every single year.

There'd be more ribbons and more buttons and more things to click on. And yet all we ever wanted to do was simply type up a simple document. They kept making it more and more complicated. And as a result, a young upstart named Google came along and they swooped in with Google Docs. Simple. Clean. Easy. It gave us everything we needed and nothing we didn't.

And now, most of us use Google Docs without a second thought. And this brings me to a key point, that complexity doesn't impress [00:03:00] customers, it actually overwhelms them. In fact, author Greg McKeown in his book Essentialism, The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, which I absolutely love, this book makes a compelling case for why we need to strip back And strip away from the non essentials.

He argues that doing less but better is the key to achieving excellence. He says if you don't prioritize your life Someone else will. Just think about your diary a second. Just think about how many times people put in meetings and it's like other people are controlling your diary, but you're not.

Again, as he said, if you don't prioritize your life, then you're not. Someone else will. So the same can be true for your business. If you don't actively strip away the necessary and focus on the vital, your customers will make that decision for you and not in the way you necessarily want. So let me take you back to a time in my own corporate career.[00:04:00]

I was heading up a global marketing campaign for this huge well known brand. It was a project with dozens of teams, countless moving parts, millions of what felt like millions of features that we had to highlight in our messaging. Every single department wanted their piece of the pie showcased. And the results, well, we ended up with a massive convoluted campaign.

There was just impossible for anyone to understand, least of all our customers. The campaign actually flopped and it was the marketing equivalent of Jenga. It looked really strong from the outside, but one small tug at the wrong piece and all of it fell apart, all of it collapsed. Now, if I compare that to when I was consulting with a smaller, more agile business, they had one simple product and one clear message.

We streamlined their marketing to focus on just that. Guess what? The customer's got it. The sales shot up. So the lesson is not necessarily about [00:05:00] having more features or more messages or more anything. It's about clarity and it's about simplicity. You know, one of my favorite Steve Jobs quotes is "Simple can be harder than complex"

I say this to my clients all the time. Simplicity is really hard. Complexity is easy. He went on to say, you have to work really hard to get your thinking cleaner to make it. And he said it's worth it in the end, because once you get there, you can move mountains. I say absolutely yes to that. Now I have to say that right now, I'm actually seeing so many businesses that are making themselves unnecessarily complex.

I've worked with clients who have been told by the latest coach to add this feature or to try that new marketing strategy. And suddenly it's like they're chasing every single trend under the sun. You know, maybe they've fallen for the latest fad of shiny thing. I don't know if that sounds familiar.

They're adding more products. [00:06:00] They may be trying new marketing tactics and more processes, thinking that all of these things are actually the answer to them achieving their sales goals, achieving their scaling dreams. But the results. is they end up doing a lot but not doing anything well. Their message gets lost, their offers are confusing, and their teams start feeling overwhelmed.

And here's the thing, I work with my clients to actually simplify things. And let me tell you, more often than not, we're stripping away product offerings. We're moving from a smorgasbord of options to a streamlined core offering that makes sense for their customers and makes sense for the business. We simplify pricing structures, we cut back on marketing activity that's just noise, and we get really laser focused and aligned on what's really working and the right stuff that's going to generate the right.

Results for them. We figure out the lead gen [00:07:00] channels that deliver results for them. And we double down on those rather than spreading our resources too thin across dozens of different platforms. And this simplification not only clarifies the value to the customer, but it also allows the business to focus on what they're truly brilliant at.

And here's the kicker. When you simplify, you actually get to do fewer things better. You free up resources to improve your core offering, and that's what really moves the needle. Simplicity is universal. I wonder how many of you listening are actually fans of The Mandalorian? I love this as an example of simplicity.

If you haven't seen it, I'm pretty sure you've probably heard of Baby Yoda. Now what's brilliant about The Mandalorian isn't just that it's set in the Star Wars universe, but it's how it managed to take such a massive, complex world and distill it down to something really [00:08:00] incredibly simple. A lone gunslinger protecting a tiny, adorable Alien.

It's a simple story at its heart. Star Wars fans and non fans alike could easily jump on board and get the story. Simplicity is universal. Now, think about how simplicity could apply to your business. are you currently trying to pack too much into your product offerings? Maybe you're throwing everything but the kitchen sink at your clients in the hope that something will stick.

Sometimes it's as simple as focusing on one clear, powerful message. You know, just like the Mandalorian, give your customers a story that they can connect with without drowning them in, unnecessary detail. Years ago, when I first started my business, I remember I was running on adrenaline and I felt like I had to offer absolutely everything.

I was coaching, I was running workshops. I was doing consulting. I was doing group programs. I was [00:09:00] speaking, you name it. I was doing absolutely. Everything. I was absolutely everywhere. And quite frankly, I was pretty much burning myself out. I wasn't thriving at all. I was totally drowning. And it wasn't until a mentor of mine actually sat me down and said, Janine, you're doing too much.

You're spreading yourself too thin and your message is getting lost. Yeah, it was like, ouch, really? But you know what? They were absolutely right. I was so busy trying to do it all that I wasn't doing anything exceptionally well. Yeah. So I simplified. I cut out the noise. I focused on my core offerings and made sure that my clients were crystal clear on the value that I was providing.

And that's when everything changed the moral of the story. You cannot do everything and you really shouldn't try. So how can you start simplifying today? I want to give you four ideas, four steps that you can take right now to cut through [00:10:00] that complexity and focus on what really matters in your business.

First up, I want you to think about Where you can audit your processes

take a good hard look at your workflows, your systems, your tools, other redundancies at play, you know, maybe you're using five apps when actually one could do the trick, cut the fat. You don't need every single shiny object. It's really important here to see.

Stick to what works. Secondly, I want you to think about how can you clarify your message? I mentioned earlier that complexity actually dilutes your message. So take a moment to sit down and answer these three questions. Number one, what problem does your product actually solve? What problem does your product actually solve?

Number two, why does that actually matter to your customer? And number three, how can you deliver that solution in its simplest [00:11:00] way possible? How can you deliver that solution in its simplest way possible? Possible. The next thing I want you to do is to think about how you can eliminate the non-essentials

Now, this one is tough because we love our routines, our habits, and sometimes our busy work, but you've gotta learn the disciplined pursuit of less. Look at what you're doing every day and eliminate anything that isn't bringing you closer to your goals. And finally, ask for feedback you know who can tell you if your processes are too complex or if things are way too complicated, it's your customers.

Ask them, are there parts of your service that feel complicated or overwhelming? Are there things that are adding tension to how you actually serve your clients? Is your product easy to understand? You know, getting feedback can help you streamline your process. everything even further. So I want to leave [00:12:00] you with one more story, to really support this concept of simplicity scales, complexity fails.

If you've been listening to my podcast or reading my blogs, you'll have heard that in May or early this year, I, uh, had the absolute joy of visiting the restaurant 11 Madison Park in New York. As I've shared before, this restaurant has won all the awards. But what struck me was the simplicity of the actual food service itself.

There was no grand, overwhelming display of excess. There were no 20 course tasting menus where you lose track after the third dish of what's actually coming next. Instead, the entire meal was about intention. Each dish was simple. But perfect. Every single ingredient was there for a reason. No extras, no distractions, it was a masterclass in [00:13:00] simplicity and yet the experience felt more luxurious, more high end than any over the top meal I've ever had.

It takes discipline to know when to stop. And isn't that just the perfect lesson for life and for business? So there you have it. Simplicity scales, complexity fails whether you are a solo entrepreneur or leading a big team, remember that adding more isn't the answer. It's about clarity, focus, and stripping back to what really matters.

Here's my final challenge for you today. where can you simplify things this week? Maybe look at your processes, your offerings, or even how you manage your day. Cut the fluff, focus on the essentials and watch as your business and life. Begin to thrive. Thank you so much for tuning in today.

If you love this please share it with [00:14:00] someone who needs a little bit more simplicity in their life. And as always, I'd love to hear from you. Please let me know how you're applying this and what steps you are taking to declutter your business and your life to enable you to grow until next week.

Have a fabulous week.