Article - How to Stop Complexity Killing You and Your Growth

READ: 2 mins

AUTHOR: Robert Craven

At every stage of growth, you hit a glass ceiling. A glass ceiling of complexity.

You can’t break through using your existing skillset, knowledge, people or systems. You are banging your head. Again and again. Thud, thud, thud.

So why do things get more complex?

Because, on your way up, every time you solve a problem, you add a bit more complexity. Plus, the bigger you grow, the more complex your business becomes. You make a tweak or quick hack or another exception to the rules. So, you end up working harder to stay on top of the amoeba-like Frankenstein’s monster you are meant to be in control of.

And how does all this feel?

It feels tough. You’re working all hours under the sun and you can’t see a way up or out of it.

You feel like you are reaching breaking point.

You are about to snap – you can only be spread so thinly. For so long.

Deciding what disciplines you need to adopt to get to the next goal feels tough, awkward, annoying, frightening and completely unpleasant.

So, it is easier to avoid the pain (for long-term gain) and accept your lot. But hope is not a solution!

The big event that creates a change.

Sometimes we need to see the guillotine to make the change.

It takes a minor heart attack or a friend dying to make us change our ways.

And we need that shock to the system. Something that doesn’t quite kill us.

For many, Covid was that shock. But for many more, they put their heads in the sand and are still waiting for it to return to ‘business as usual’. And the news is that they will be waiting a long time as their bank balances get sucked dry.

What can you do about it?

As a starter for ten here are the solutions I might suggest.

Solution: Build better processes and systems.

Barrier: Cost and time. How do you change an airplane engine in mid-air?

Solution: You have created a monster business built around you - you are the bottleneck through which too much passes.

Barrier: Yourself.

Solution: Slow down and take a breath.

Barrier: The million things you have to do on a daily basis.

Solution: Take a step back and look at the big picture.

Barrier: Your inability to see what’s in front of you because you are too close to the business, working in it, rather than on it.

Solution: Build a better team. Delegate more.

Barrier: Recruitment, training and management… time.

Solution: Create a breathtakingly effective and efficient sales machine.

Barrier: Your past sales history… which was too random and based on the phone ringing.

Solution: Work smarter.

Barrier: Your mindset… It’s time to start doing things differently.

So what’s next?

Let’s be clear, the rewards are in the future. Your business can break it’s current ceiling and you can continue working without burning out.

But first, there will be disruption, discomfort and an obsessive need for discipline.

So, the simple answer, which is stating the blindingly obvious and, to be frank, comes across as pretty patronising, would be:

• Recognise the signs that you might be approaching a plateau and/or burnout.

• Understand that others have broken through the ceiling and they were simple, human beings just like you.

• Figure out what you need to do to move on up. Commit to it and do it.