Imagine what you could do with the time you spend sitting in meetings and writing emails every day. Complexity is killing companies’ ability to innovate and adapt, and simplicity is fast becoming the competitive advantage of our time. Drawing on research and themes from her latest book, Why Simple Wins, Lisa Bodell inspires leaders and their teams to proactively move beyond the feelings of frustration and futility that come with so much unproductive work in today’s corporate world, to create a corporate culture where valuable, essential, meaningful work is the norm. By learning how to eliminate redundancies, communicate with clarity, and make simplification a habit, individuals and companies can begin to recognize which activities are time-sucks and which create lasting value. Lisa will touch on several key areas to make the case for simplification: Simplification is a skill that’s available to us all, yet very few leaders use it. Operating with simplification as a core business model makes economic and ethical sense—for our customers, for our company, and for each other. Simplicity drives culture, and culture in turn drives employee engagement, customer relations, and overall productivity. The reality is this: While organizational complexity is an issue, more often individual complexity is the culprit – we often create the beast that we become slaves to without even realizing it. Using simple stories and techniques, Lisa will show that by using simplicity as an operating principle, we can eliminate the organizational and individual busywork that puts a chokehold on us every day, and instead spend time on the work that matters.

2. Presenting Today
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Erin Boettge
Content Marketing Manager,
BizLibrary
eboettge@bizlibrary.com
Lisa Bodell
CEO and Author
FutureThink
@LisaBodell

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4. WHY
SIMPLE
WINSLisa Bodell
CEO, futurethink
@lisabodell

5. COMPLEXITY AT WORK
IS DESTROYING OUR ORGANIZATIONS

7. Insist on doing
everything through
‘channels.’
1

8. Make
‘speeches.’
2

9. Refer all matters
to committees.
3

10. Bring up
irrelevant issues.
4

11. Haggle over
precise wordings.
5

12. Refer back to
matters previously
decided upon.
6

13. Advocate
‘caution.’
7

14. OUR ORGANIZATIONS
OUR OFFICE CULTURES
OUR ABILITY TO INNOVATE & ADAPT
COMPLEXITY IS DESTROYING

16. COMPLEXITY IS KILLING OUR COMPANIES
1
WHY SIMPLE WINS
2
GET TO THE WORK THAT MATTERS
3

17. COMPLEXITY IS KILLING OUR COMPANIES
1

18. WHAT DO YOU
SPEND YOUR DAY
DOING?

19. MEETINGS & EMAILS

20. UNITERRUPTED
HOURS EACH WEEK
6½<
M T W Th F
Source: Boston Consulting Group

21. OF EACH DAY
SPENT IN MEETINGS
45%
Source: Bain & Company

22. 28%OF WORKWEEK SPENT DEALING WITH E-MAILS
Source: McKinsey Global

23. EMAILS SENT & RECEIVED EVERY DAY
100 billion
Source: McKinsey Global Institute
SPENT ON EMAIL EVERY YEAR
600 hours
OF WHICH ARE ACTUALLY IMPORTANT
83 hours

24. SO BUSY THAT…
Source: 2013 GALLUP GLOBAL SURVEY
NO TIME FOR MEANINGFUL ACTIVITIES
SUCH AS CREATIVE THINKING“
”
LITTLE CHANCE TO DO WORK
THEY ACTUALLY ENJOYED
“
”
LOW LEVEL OF MEANING AND
SIGNIFICANCE IN THEIR WORK
“
”

26. 4968273584

27. WHAT DRIVES COMPLEXITY
REGULATION &
COMPLIANCE
SCALE TECHNOLOGY HUMAN
FACTORS

28. WHY DO WE CHOOSE
COMPLEXITY?

29. THE WHERE AND HOW OF COMPLEXITY
REGULATORY
ORGANIZATIONAL
TACTICAL
BEHAVIORAL

31. Insecure managers create complexity.
Frightened, nervous managers use thick,
convoluted planning books and busy
slides filled with everything they’ve
known since childhood.
Jack Welch
“ “

32. Simplicity is making
the journey of life with
just baggage enough.
Charles Dudley Warner
“ “

33. HAVE YOU CONTRIBUTED TO COMPLEXITY?
YES NO
I often send emails that are longer than 1 paragraph
and/or require significant time to read.
Emails I send usually include more than 3 CC’s or BCC’s.
I expect my employees to put my projects first
regardless of their workload.
I often use business jargon and buzzwords in my
communication.
I require my team members to involve me in all the
decisions they make.

34. HAVE YOU CONTRIBUTED TO COMPLEXITY?
YES NO
I’m frequently too busy to provide feedback or actions
on reports/presentations that I assign.
I expect employees to follow formal processes no
matter what.
I (or my team) consistently strive to add new processes,
products, procedures to our work. It is rare we eliminate
things.
I hold multiple recurring meetings with my team.
I require my team to create multiple, recurring reports.

35. HAVE YOU CONTRIBUTED TO COMPLEXITY?
# YES: YOU ARE: DESCRIPTION:
1 to 2 RELATIVELY SIMPLIFIED Aligned, focused on what matters
3 to 4 OPPORTUNITY TO SIMPLIFY
Functioning but impacting morale,
needs review
5+ COMPLEX
Bottlenecks, inconsistencies,
unnecessary work

36. CONTRIBUTING
ARE YOU
TO COMPLEXITY?

37. WHY SIMPLE WINS
2

38.  HEALTHY
 MORE PRODUCTIVE
 MORE COMPETITIVE
KEEP OUR ORGANIZATIONS:

39. PROFITS DECLINE
OF PROFITS
1/10
$237B
FOR TOP 200
GLOBAL FIRMS

40. 300,000
HOURS
LOST PRODUCTIVITY
$15MM

41. LOWER ENGAGEMENT
13%
SATISFIED NOT FOCUSED
ON CREATING
VALUE
87%
COSTING
$550B
ANNUALLY
RESULT: LACK OF PRESENCE, COMPLACENCY

42. 87%
DID NOT FIND
SATISFACTION
AT WORK
13%
ACTIVELY ENGAGED
IN THEIR JOBS

43. ZOMBIE
COMPANY

44. To get the culture right,
you have to get the work right.
“
“

45. 3…HOW YOU CAN GET TO THE
WORK THAT MATTERS

46. DEFINING SIMPLICITY
STEP 1

47. DEFINING SIMPLICITY
DOCUMENTATION SIMPLIFICATIONS MANUFACTURING SIMPLIFICATIONS
Design Simplifications Process Simplifications
General Simplifications Program Simplifications
Systems Simplifications Procedural Simplifications
Travel Simplifications Platform Simplifications
Initiative Simplifications Product Development Simplifications
Reporting Simplifications Packaging Simplifications
Financial Management Simplifications Training Simplifications
Workplace Simplifications Work Simplifications

48. DEFINING SIMPLICITY
DOCUMENTATION SIMPLIFICATIONS MANUFACTURING SIMPLIFICATIONS
Design Simplifications Process Simplifications
General Simplifications Program Simplifications
Systems Simplifications Procedural Simplifications
Travel Simplifications Platform Simplifications
Initiative Simplifications Product Development Simplifications
Reporting Simplifications Packaging Simplifications
Financial Management Simplifications Training Simplifications
Workplace Simplifications Work Simplifications

49. DEFINING SIMPLICITY
DOCUMENTATION SIMPLIFICATIONS MANUFACTURING SIMPLIFICATIONS
Design Simplifications Process Simplifications
General Simplifications Program Simplifications
Systems Simplifications Procedural Simplifications
Travel Simplifications Platform Simplifications
Initiative Simplifications Product Development Simplifications
Reporting Simplifications Packaging Simplifications
Financial Management Simplifications Training Simplifications
Workplace Simplifications Work Simplifications

50. DEFINING SIMPLICITY
Minimal
Understandable
Repeatable
Accessible

51. AAccessible
RRepeatable
DEFINING SIMPLICITY
Understandable
UMMinimal

53. IDENTIFY AREAS TO SIMPLIFY
STEP 2

54. IDENTIFY AREAS TO SIMPLIFY
DESIRED WORKTYPICAL TASKS
o Creating new
product sales
report
o Setting up
progress
meetings
o Brainstorming
new revenue
ideas
o Attending
client meetings

55. LOWVALUEHIGH
COMPLEX/VALUABLE SIMPLE/VALUABLE
COMPLEX/NOT VALUABLE
X SIMPLE/NOT VALUABLE
?
VERY COMPLEX VERY SIMPLESIMPLICITY

56. STREAMLINE DECISION-MAKING
STEP 3

57. KILL STUPID RULES
STEP 4

59. WALK THE WALK
STEP 5

60. CODE OF CONDUCT
STEP 6

61. Simplification Code of Conduct
I COMMIT TO SIMPLIFYING EVERYTHING I DO.
This means I will:
1. Eliminate redundancies and unnecessary work – and empower my team to do the same.
2. Not create false urgency.
3. Push back if I think something is unnecessary.
4. Use clear, jargon-free language when I communicate.
5. Keep my emails, documents, meetings, and conversations short.
6. Be decisive and limit the amount of information I need to make a decision.
7. Empower others to make decisions without me.
8. Make information available to others (unless illegal).
9. Say No whenever possible.
Signature Date

62. Do with other people’s
time as you would have
them do with yours.
A NEW GOLDEN RULE

63. • Hired Chief Simplicity Officers
• Formalized programs and simplification teams
• Made simplification a core part of their
corporate strategy
• Taken back their time and eliminated
distractions
SMART COMPANIES ARE DOING IT

64. How will you get to
the work that matters?

65. THE JOURNEY OF A
THOUSAND MILES
BEGINS WITH A
SINGLE STEP.
LAO TZU

66. Lisa Bodell
CEO, futurethink
@lisabodell
www.futurethink.com

67. FutureThink QuickWin Series
1. Absurd hero
2. Backcasting
3. Busting Paradigm
4. Customer Day in the Life
5. Do Better Thinking
6. Follow Smart People
7. Futures Wheel
8. Getting Ahead of Emerging Issues
9. Little Bigs: Change the Environment
10. Little Bigs: Eliminate
11. Little Bigs: Pictures Not Words
12. Pain to Gain
13. Scanning for Change Using Twitter
And Many More…….

68. FutureThink Tool School Series
1. Assumption Reversal
2. Forced Connections
3. Hunting Ground
4. Kill a Stupid Rule
5. Pain to Gain
6. Plus 3, Minus 3
7. Portfolio Balancing
8. PPCO
9. The Art of Brainstorming
10. Who Else? Where Else?
11. Within Adjacent and Beyond

69. Try out these video lessons and
more!
Let us know through the poll if you’d like a free trial of
BizLibrary’s online course collection.
www.bizlibrary.com/free-trial