11 April 2008
Clarity in the face of complexity
Crystal clear messages a must for complex organizations.
This month, Management Today (MT) magazine in the UK reports on the recent roundtable discussion it held in association with consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
MT posed the question, “How can business cut a swathe through the ever more tangled thicket besetting strategy, operations and decision-making?”
Self-imposed complexity
Business leaders recognize the world is increasingly complex, but are also beginning to acknowledge that some of this is self-imposed – through acquisitions and the creation of new business units or processes, for example. But this complexity is taking its toll on operational cost and speed.
Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of advertising agency WPP, believes complexity is necessary in trying to match clients, who themselves are also running complex technological operations – and often globally.
Today’s organizations need to be able to move effectively from having the ideas to understanding how to execute across multi-disciplines.
Adam Crozier, CEO, Royal Mail says that although his organization has reduced in size, “complexity is here to stay and in the end it is all about people.” He says that in today’s world organizations need to be able to move effectively from having the ideas to understanding how to execute across multi-disciplines.
Good vs bad complexity
Paul Coby, CIO of airline British Airways, says that when Ryanair and easyJet entered the market with their simple models “they nearly killed us.” He believes organizations need to distinguish “good complexity” from “bad complexity”. He says that good complexity might relate to a lounge product, for example, while bad complexity is a product no one can understand, or an overly complex fare structure.
Ian Powell, PwC says, “If you have a very complex organization that you're trying to control, your messages from the top need to be absolutely crystal-clear.” He goes on to explain that the strategy needs to be articulated so that everybody understands it – “and that it is simplicity that really matters.”
See a full transcript of this roundtable conversation between the bosses: David Brennan, CEO, AstraZeneca, Adam Crozier, CEO, Royal Mail, Val Gooding, CEO, Bupa, Lord Crisp, former CEO, NHS, Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP and the experts: Mike Gibson, partner, PwC, Miranda Kennett, First Class Coach, Paul Coby, CIO, British Airways, Ian Powell, head of advisory, PwC, Professor Jane McKenzie, Henley Management College.
Have your say
Battling with the organization’s complexity can seem like a full-time job. How many of us struggle with the organization itself in trying to simply get things done?
If you have a very complex organization that you're trying to control, your messages from the top need to be absolutely crystal-clear.
The more complex the organization, the harder we need to work to clarify the messages so that everyone can understand – essential when we're communicating strategy.
But are we guilty of introducing or maintaining “bad complexity” too? How many of our systems and processes add to the organization’s “spaghetti” and are we ruthless enough to review and cull those much loved “ways we’ve always done it here”?
Discuss these issues with other comms practitioners by joining the Internal Comms Hub members' group on the Communicators' Network.
Other recommendations:
How BA’s comms team learned to write engaging messages
How the changing world will affect communication
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