Simplifying Can Improve Your Business

The goal of simplifying decision making is to make the process of choosing between options faster, easier and more effective by reducing the complexity of available information and presenting clear and straightforward options. Overall, simplifying can improve your business.

A data-rich environment can make it more difficult for people to make decisions. It can be difficult to determine which data is relevant and useful, and which is not. This can lead to people feeling overwhelmed, and lead to indecision, analysis paralysis, or even the use of irrelevant or incorrect information to make decisions. Simplifying decision making can help both individuals and organizations effectively manage information, prioritize relevant data, and make informed decisions.

Why Should a Business Simplify?
Simplifying decision making can have a positive impact on a business by improving its operations, processes and outcomes. Here are several reasons why it can benefit your business:

• Faster decision making. Too much information to process can overwhelm people’s cognitive abilities, slowing everything down. By simplifying, decisions can be made faster.
• Improved efficiency. Reduces the time and effort required to gather and analyze information, and allows business leaders to make decisions faster and to focus on other important tasks.
• Better outcomes. Leads to clearer options and more straightforward evaluations, thus reducing the chances of mistakes.
• Increased confidence: Business leaders can better understand their options, make informed choices, and have more confidence in their decisions.
• Enhanced collaboration: Promotes better collaboration among team members and stakeholders. Everyone has a better understanding of their options and implications.

Simplified decision making helps people take action by reducing complexity and offering clear options, making it easier to choose a course of action and move forward. Confidence is high and actions can be taken quickly. Accuracy also increases, while the risk of mistakes decreases.

Additionally, simplifying decision making can enhance transparency and accountability within a business or organization. When things are clearer and more straightforward, it is simpler to track progress and evaluate outcomes, making it easier to identify areas for improvement and take corrective action if needed. This can help businesses build trust with stakeholders and increase their likelihood of delivering on their promises.

How Does Simplifying Help Someone Make Decisions?

Simplifying can help reduce the complexity of available information, making it easier to understand the options and weight the potential outcomes. Break down the process into manageable steps to reduce complexity by following these steps:

1. Define the problem. Clearly understand what the problem is and what decisions need to be made.
2. Gather information. Identify and gather relevant data, facts and insights to inform the decision.
3. Evaluate options. Analyze the information and weight the pros and cons of each to determine the best course of action.
4. Make a decision. Select the option that best aligns with the problem and overall goals.
5. Implement and review. Take action and regularly review the results to gauge for success and determine whether adjustments are needed.

Communicate in Threes to Be Better Understood

According to a study published with the National Library of Medicine, a person’s recall limit measures what is termed working memory—the definition of a person’s cognitive storage capacity. Cognitive tasks can be completed only with sufficiency ability to hold information as it is processed, with a limit of about 3-5 meaningful items at any one time.

Whether making a pitch to a prospect, speaking to a crowd, or explaining something to a child, there is an art to getting your message across. It’s hard to “Do Great Work” if no one understands what you mean.  When information is presented in threes, it is easier to digest and remember, thus increasing the likelihood of it being understood and retained.

There are several effective ways to ensure that what you want to say is actually what others hear:

• Organize your presentation to make no more than three points, choosing those that are most important.
• Explain your concepts three different ways. Your chosen perspective, metaphor or terminology may not resonate with everyone. Find a different metaphor, use 6^th-grade terms, or offer an example. Don’t leave out the core of your concept, rather, work on the way(s) you explain it.
• Repeat your point three times. Go beyond the traditional “tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and tell them what you told them” model. For example, state and immediately repeat a phrase; pair words with pictures and refer to a handout; or ask the person you are addressing to write down your point as you say it and/or have them repeat it back to you.

Simplifying doesn’t mean you have to dumb down your information or processes. The goal is to provide only the most important information someone needs to make a decision.

Our world is becoming increasingly complex, and we live in a maelstrom of data, but not information. A data-rich, information-poor environment makes it more difficult for people to make decisions. By simplifying, businesses can improve customer experiences, increase efficiency and productivity, better decision making, increased innovation, and improve communication. The benefits can contribute to a business’s success and competitiveness in its market.

As Albert Einstein once said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."