Why Simple Wins: Escape the Complexity Trap and Get to Work That Matters

by Lisa Bodell

Imagine what you could do with the time you spend writing emails every day. Complexity is killing companies' ability to innovate and adapt, and simplicity is fast becoming the competitive advantage of our time. Why Simple Wins helps leaders and their teams move beyond the feelings of frustration and futility that come with so much unproductive work in today's corporate world to create a corporate culture where valuable, essential, meaningful work is the norm. By learning how to eliminate redundancies, communicate with clarity, and make simplification a habit, individuals and companies can begin to recognize which activities are time-sucks and which create lasting value. Lisa Bodell's simplification method has several unique Simplification is a skill that's available to us all, yet very few leaders use it. Simplification is the right thing to do--for our customers, for our company, and for each other. Operating with simplification as our core business model will make it easier to be respectful of each other's time. Simplification drives culture, and culture in turn drives employee engagement, customer relations, and overall productivity.

This book is inspired by Bodell's passion for eliminating barriers to innovation and productivity. In it, she explains why change and innovation are so hard to achieve--and it's not what you might expect. The reality is we spend our days drowning in mundane tasks like meetings, emails, and reports. These are often self-created complexities that prevent us from getting to the meaningful work that truly matters. Using simple stories and techniques, Why Simple Wins shows that by using simplicity as an operating principle, we can eliminate the busy work that puts a chokehold on us every day, and instead spend time on the work that we value.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Leadership, Self Help, Management, Audiobook, Psychology

232 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 13, 2016

About the author

Lisa Bodell is the founder and CEO of futurethink, an internationally recognized innovation research and training firm. Lisa founded her company on the principle that with the right knowledge and tools, everyone has the power to innovate. As a leading innovator and cognitive learning expert, she has devised training programs for hundreds of innovators at leading companies such as 3M, GE, and Johnson & Johnson. A respected thought leader on innovation topics, Bodell has appeared on FOX News, and in publications such as Crain’s, Business Week, The New York Times, WIRED, Investor’s Business Daily, Successful Meetings, Harvard Business Review, and The Futurist. She serves as an advisor on the boards of the Institute of Direct Marketing in London, The Women’s Congress, the Association of Professional Futurists, and the prestigious Institute of Triple Helix Innovation think tank. She has also taught at American University, Fordham University, and the American Management Association.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was already on thin ice and then I got to the "50 questions to ask yourself" part. Seriously, 50? 50 questions to figure out how to simplify. I honestly thought it was a joke. Nope, it started going through the questions.

[Mike Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

A two article book, meaning the meat could have been contained in two 20 page articles. That's pretty good, many of these books could be easily replaced by a single article or, in some cases, a five slide presentation. However, despite the real value of the tools provided it loses lots points as a book for a couple of reasons.

First, some very muddy thinking. At one point, the author alludes to the difficulty of quantifying complexity, launches into a few anecdotes, then says "now that we've determined what complexity is..." I re-read the section twice before deciding that the author didn't actually know what complexity was, a discovery which was born out by the rest of the book and emphasized by the occasional use of "complex" and "complicated" as synonyms. This sort of sloppiness is on display throughout the book, to the point that while I'm convinced that the author has valuable experience with simplicity, and that they know it when they see it, I'm frankly uncertain that they understand what simplicity is.

Second, the astounding irony of filling up 200 pages with an enormous amount of filler in the course of making an argument to keep things simple. There were whole chapters that were superfluous. Chapter 5 was downright embarrassing. And there was no chapter that was free from that worst of all business tropes, the anecdotal testimonial.

I'm giving this book three stars because there's some honest to goodness value in it, but please don't let that imply that it it's a good book. I would gladly pay twice as much for a book half as long that didn't have all the garbage.

[Jay French · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Why Simple Wins” was an odd duck of a book. While about simplicity, I found the book repetitive. And I was surprised at the perspectives on simplicity presented here – most of the book is on business simplicity, generally process simplicity, while parts are more about personal simplicity, like the simple living books popular in the self-help section of the bookstore. This dichotomy is unnecessary, especially in a book on…wait for it…simplicity.

As a business book, beyond the issues mentioned above. I thought that the content was quite interesting and possibly quite valuable. So many of these types of books are little more than advertisements for what the author’s consulting firm can do for your company. While there was some of that in here, I was pleasantly surprised to run across sample documents, available on the internet, as well as process descriptions that were extremely detailed, with numbered steps and examples of correct and incorrect uses. This is not to say that the process was detailed – the process described is general common sense, but I find that with common sense processes people (or at least I) tend to forget the nuances. Having a book like this corrects that. Note that this is not a full-fledged re-engineering process description. This is a more lightweight process to look for quick fixes. This does bring up an issue – with this approach you may optimize yourself into “local maximums”, or simplicity fixes that might have immediate, local benefit but have far ranging limitations that you might not think of without a more rigorous process. Generally, though, this is a great book for defining a process and goals for simplification, and to help create that simplification mindset in employees. I found this book to provide business value.

[Tre Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why Simple Wins identifies exactly why so many of us are overwhelmed by today’s culture of busyness: increased metrics, CYA tactics, meetings all-day-every-day, 24/7 email. But it also provides tools to cut through workday clutter and shows us how to simplify tasks and focus on big-picture goals. By working a few of the tools, I realized that less than half of my work is actually valuable to my clients/director. After conversations with them, I’ve managed to eliminate and outsource several of the less valuable assignments and meetings that sucked up a ton of my time. Since Jan. 1, I’ve used that newly carved-out time to complete projects that make a clear difference to my clients…and I’ve managed to leave work at a decent hour most nights. Thanks to this book, I’m making 2017 “The Year I Made Sh*% Simple.”

[E · Rating 2 out of 5]

The most valuable parts are when the author is going thru the toolkit they developed. There are some good techniques for starting discussions around identifying complexities and then simplifying. Go ahead and skip the first couple of chapters and honestly, just skim what you need from the others.

[Alexandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure I have these issues. I ff'd through lots of examples to get at the exercises and thought provoking questions. As below:

Consider your strengths/ talents/ desires - if you could rework your role to make it more effective and meaningful, using your talents for the company's goals - what would you spend your day doing that you're not already doing.
What currently occupies my time? Compare with above
Eliminate the things that you do now that don't add value to make room for the things that do.

"Is this the simplest way to do this and still reach our goal?"

"Any simplification effort must break tasks down into the smallest parts possible."

Is it valuable? Is it minimal? Is it understandable? Is it repeatable? Is it accessible?

Does the task solve a problem? Does it fulfill an essential customer need? Does it provide insight and help leadership make decisions?

Identify stupid rules - kill or modify. Stay close to your locus of control and no complaining.

Which simplification efforts should we employ on a regular basis? Which behaviors add unnecessary work and should be avoided? What prevents us from simplifying? What changes can we make to remove these obstacles? Which specific tasks should we do less of?

[Omar El-Mohri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complexity is eating everything as we can see more and more complex systems and processes, this book look into this.
The only think that I didn’t much like is the part where it has kind of to-do plan to solve it, which could be ok as a sample but to say that this is a way you solve it is the wrong way to go.

[gracepalm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had a lot of good examples proving the importance of simplicity. A bit repetitive & not that applicable to my own life right now, since a lot of it was focused on business (this is one of my dad's books he wanted me to read). Still, my brain kept thinking of ways things could be simplified over the last few days, so I guess the author's point got through.

[Beth Mbow · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a book about simplicity, there is a lot of explanation.

[Elese Roger · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some great tips. The author even recognizes the complexity that can be attributed by the simplification processes outlined in the book. I think the most impactful recommendation is the agile methodology toward reducing complexity... If your organization is overly burdened by bureaucracy - this will make an interesting read...

[Aldo Aguirre · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5

Not because the book is about simplicity should the book itself feel so... Simple. It has some good thoughts and resources but it feels like another book that should've been a group of blog posts.

[Brin P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this one for work book club. Its downfall, ironically, was that it was a book about simplicity… that was repetitive and for sure needed to be simplified/condensed. At one point, there was a list of 50 (!!!!) questions to ask yourself in order to help yourself simplify. That being said, it had some good ideas. The whole point of this book is that “complexity is killing companies’ ability to innovate and adapt” and that learning to simplify will help leaders and their teams eliminate a lot of the workplace frustrations and productivity issues. The author talks a lot about simplification being a skill and how it can drive employee culture and engagement, while also increasing productivity. She includes a lot of anecdotes that I thought helped illustrate her concepts. And a lot of the tips were pretty common sense. But the parts going through the author’s toolkit for starting conversations around identifying the problem areas and simplifying unnecessary complexities did give me a lot to think about in regard to my job.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fast paced read on how complexity has essentially taken over businesses and business operations. The book highlights nothing too earth shattering on how having complex processes can slow things down, hinder creativity, and make for a bad work environment. The book includes practical tips and tricks; however, I do feel like the huge focus on reducing emails and meetings is really only treating the symptom of the problem. Companies need to dig deep as to why all of those emails and meetings are required in the first place ... are we all too polite, has no one been deemed a decision maker, are processes so complex that you need multiple meetings or emails to figure them etc, etc. Bodell touches on these issues a little bit, but compared to how much she focuses on how to run efficient meetings and communicative effectively, I don't think there was enough of a focus. Simplicity is a huge, complicated (ironic, I know) concept to roll out ... it needs a cultural mindset and shift within an organization to be truly successful not just a well-run meeting.

[Andra Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

I skimmed my way through Why Simple Wins. That is the only way I could finish it. There is a lot of repetition in the book, and frankly, the author makes making things simple, a bit complex. There are some resources in here that some might find useful and some good conversation starters for businesses that are trying to tame the complexity beast. However, I do take exception to the long string of questions that we are directed to ask ourselves when considering what to simplify in one's life. That is a lot to ask someone to go through to get through it all. The most genuine takeaway from the book is that complexity lends itself to a very subjective definition.

[Gregg R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really excited when I started the book as it described a person who was overworked and overwhelmed and I thought I'd receive real solutions to these universal problems. Unfortunately, the solutions seemed geared almost entirely towards big complex organizations. I kept thinking that my father-in-law who is an engineer for a large company might enjoy it, or it would be good for government organizations, but it wasn’t relevant for smaller companies. In fact, I felt like all the exercises and steps were too complicated for my 6 year old company of 70+ employees.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A simple concept, truly, with many, many applications to complicated business processes and organizations. As Bodell's stories make clear, the work of keeping it simple inspires us when we see it, makes for devoted customers, and energizes employees. But it can be devilishly hard to implement. This book contains all the questionnaires, worksheets, and planning documents you need to make the complicated more simple and turn loose your employees with all the renewed enthusiasm they need to take your business to the next level.

[Anusha Sridharan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Art of explaining simplicity in simple terms is difficult. Killing the stupid rules and reducing/completely avoiding complexity is again not so easy but this book serves as a good guideway to understand the cause of complexity, identity contributing factors and also question them if they are eliminated.
I specially liked the matrix with simplicity and value on the axes, to understand what works and how should we go about it. A helpful read!

[Austin Evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

To start off I loved the topic of this book. It was a great way to help me look into ways to be more direct. That being said though this is a book that is over 200 pages and the main point that they are trying to get across is with in the first fifty. I understand that people want to explain in depth the process but when it comes down to it this book was overly complex in its length. That is the only reason that I rated it so low.

[Luis Patarroyo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great insights but repeatitive

This book condenses a practical guidance with good examples. The tools and questions are simple to follow. Although, it tends to repeat the same kind of information or message, creating redundancy.
Overall, it could be streamlined to get the core message with less pages. But, I will read it as needed to get guidance.

[Katie Kiefer · Rating 2 out of 5]

The concepts shared are great. I feel like I had to swim an ocean to get to the meat of the book. I love business books, self help books, non-fiction and historical books - this one was an absolute CHORE to finish.

[Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the concept and the book contained a few interesting stories and approaches, but a much “simpler “ version of the book could have been 50 pages long and not included overly redundant stories and processes.

[Jenna Lenhardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book resonated deeply with my desire to do less tasks and more meaningful activities. It walks you through the process, gives examples of how this has worked, and where to start with specific tools. Highly recommend to all my colleagues and friends.

[Alex Light · Rating 4 out of 5]

As others wrote, for a book about simplicity it really does belabor a lot of the same points repeatedly. I feel like at least 50 pages could have been cut. But the book does have some good information/content in it and provides good ideas on how to attack complexity-creep issues.

[Enoch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why simple wins was a fine book. It felt directed primarily at the C-suite but there are some ideas everyone can adopt. The premise that processes should be just the right level of simple seems obvious, finding that level seems hard and the book shared some approaches that might help.

[Teri Bauer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be painfully difficult to read. I was excited about the premise, but found it complicated and redundant. I tried to listen to it on Audible hoping to make it easier, but it was worse. There were quite a bit of useful tidbits however.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good concepts. Hard to imagine how to implement many of these ideas. I did listen to this book and I think I would recommend buying the actual physical copy since so much of this book is exercises. I may still buy a copy to see how I can simplify things in my control at work.

[Kris Lundgaard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very helpful--in more contexts than business.

[Glen Leavens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keep it simple. I am too complex. How to look for simplification and say no. Aligns well with Essentialism.

[Jacki York · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I agree that simplifying is badly needed in the workplace, this text seems like a complicated way to get there.

I also question creating an audio if this book- not very practical.

[Nadisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great emphasis on simplicity and with good tips. I could change few habits of my own after reading the book and the results are great.