How to outsmart the serial killer stalking your company

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction." - Albert EinsteinIf you run a successful business, there’s likely a serial killer at work in your company, strangling growth and suffocating sustained profitability. It’s subtle, hiding in and around the smartest people in your organization – and in your best intentions. This killer is complexity, and it’s taken down many, many businesses.Think back with me a minute: When you got an essay question on a test in school, you either knew the answer or you didn’t. If you knew it, your essay was succinct; the answer flowed from your pencil. But if you didn’t know the answer, you kept writing, and writing – hoping your teacher would mistake your flowery prose for intelligence. You made something simple more complex. You may have felt smarter because you wrote a long answer, and used some of your SAT words. But you didn’t end up with the right answer.Are you guilty?If you’re successful in business, but you keep coming up against problems that seem complex, you may be stuck in the grasp of unnecessary complexity.Complexity is seductive, because it feels like harder work – work only smart people can do – when a problem is complicated. But making things more complex than they should be conceals bad judgment, incompetence, and non-action. If we create a complex strategic plan, we’re too tired to actually carry it out. Or we congratulate ourselves for being smart enough to solve a problem.This becomes a comfortable place for companies – and our egos – to stay. And when a company experiences growth and success, they think complexity got them there. In reality, complexity keeps them from reaching their full potential.You're not alone85% of CEOs say that their biggest obstacle is managing their time and energy in the face of growing complexity, according to a Bain & Company study.Bain also found that, among the 3,000+ companies they work with, less than 10% had achieved even a modest level of sustained, profitable growth over the past decade. The same study found that 90% of executives say they have adequate opportunities for growth.So, 90% of companies think they can achieve success, but only 10% actually do, and 85% of executives find complexity their biggest problem. Are you starting to see why I call complexity a serial killer? They key is to run your activities through the "simplicity filter." Do they pass?Now, let me hear from you: How have you seen complexity kill great ideas or key initiatives in your business? How do you keep it simple?