Google Just Launched Simplicity Sprints. Here’s Your DIY Version
Confident black female leader points at headline against a tomato-orange background.
By Lisa Bodell for Forbes
In late July, Google announced its first Simplicity Sprint, which aims for “better results in less time.” According to CEO Sundar Pichai, Simplicity Sprints will engage employees about working with increased clarity and efficiency; identifying which speed bumps could be removed for better, faster results; and how to take an entrepreneurial approach to eliminating waste.
Most of us don’t simplify our own work because we don’t know where to start. What should you simplify first? And how do you make time to do it? Also, how do you know what’s corporate red tape vs. work that you’re permitted to modify?
I asked these same questions a decade ago when I began interviewing people around the world for what became Why Simple Wins. Shockingly, my research team and I encountered very few solutions to workplace complexity. Other than the software methodology Agile and Lean Six Sigma — synonymous with large manufacturers in the ‘90s — organizations didn’t have many options for simplifying.
Today, you don’t need an army of project managers or expensive consultants to simplify your workday. All you need is the desire to make change — and a willingness to try the following DIY sprints.