Lisa Bodell: If You Want to Stay Nimble, Think Simple

by Kylie Ora Lobell for Sage.comThe promise of technology to help us work “better, faster, smarter” is pervasive in today’s work landscape. But in some cases, the multitude of devices and tools we rely on at work may actually get in the way of productivity—and make innovation harder to accomplish. With nearly every industry at risk of disruption, company leaders—especially those at the enterprise level—need to pay close attention to their ability to not only embrace change, but also predict it.For Lisa Bodell, the CEO and founder of global innovation firm futurethink, this means businesses need to simplify. “I believe that ongoing innovation is impossible at companies that are suffering from complexity,” she says. “Simplification is what creates the space for change and innovation to happen.”In her book, “Why Simple Wins,” she asks leaders to imagine what they could do with the hours they waste writing emails every day, for example. With the average worker spending 28 percent of their workweek managing email, that’s no small gain of productivity. We talked with Bodell about her methodologies, and how large organizations can use her simplification formula to stay agile and innovative no matter their size.Read More →