Facing Daily Complexity? The Answer Reveals Your Workplace Culture
by Lisa Bodell for ForbesWomen
How often do you experience complexity at work? Once a week? A dozen times? Constantly? If you answered “constantly,” you’re among a growing majority of the workforce. In fact, 74% of people around the world rate their work environment as either “complex” or “highly complex,” according to a Deloitte survey.
So, how did we end up here? While technology is a convenient scapegoat, humans created the bureaucracy and busywork that holds us back from doing the jobs we were hired to do. And whenever we say yes to meetings that waste our time and reports that re-enforce the status quo, we’re choosing complexity — consciously or unconsciously.
Through the process of researching and writing Why Simple Wins, I surveyed or interviewed thousands of employees on nearly every continent. I found that regardless of industry, country, or career level, people spend nearly all of their workday on meetings and emails. While a small percentage of those meetings and emails are important for completing valuable work, the majority aren’t.
It’s easy to point the finger at employees who constantly host meetings that should’ve been emails, but the blame game isn’t a solution. Instead, turn your focus inward. As leaders, it’s critical to examine whether we’re contributing a culture of complexity. To get a sense of where you stand on the spectrum of Simplifier vs. Complicator, answer the following three questions.
1. Do you encourage your team to do more work…or to do valuable work?