Keeping it Simple in GIX

How do you keep the things simple in the world of Globalizing Innovation Complexity (GIX) Bang (a 'la BigBang) World.

1. For starters make the business model straightforward.

What are you selling? To whom? For what specific needs? How you are selling? Also why you are selling?

2. Keep the communication Simple. How to keep the message complete, comprehensive and unambiguous? This is better said then done.

3. Keep the business processes simple. Just because you have a technology available to you, doesnt give you a license to incorporate it into your processes. Un-necessary process complexity is sure-shot recipe for failure.

4. Keep the business metrics simple and straight forward. Let us see an example. In software development organizations measure Schedule deviation and effort deviation and then they punish projects that are having the devitation. What is this deviation? The deviation is from the estimate given by initial project analysts. As we know, software development is not straightforward implementation or production of parts such as an industrial production. It is extremely difficult to have an estimate upfront in software development scenarios. When you measure deviations, you are not measuring the delivarables at all, you are measuring the efficacy of estimation, which anyway is a nebulous.

5. Above all keep the organization structure simple. This can be the root cause of all the issues and problems that your business may be facing. When I say simple, it means non-rigid, malleable organization structures. You need to balance the Service Level Agreement (SLA) driven rigidily and ad-hoc of free structure of a start-up, where everyone does everything. Or may be find out a completely new structure. However, organization design is the biggest challenge that top management has, unfortunately, they do not realize it.

Keeping it Simple is not Stupidity in the world of GIXBang world! May be that is the recipe for success when complexity threatens to destroy everything.