The power of simplicity

B-schools are often ridiculed for the amount of complex theories that the students are taught through the two years. Common public perception is that strategy consultants take up simple solutions, and present them in a complex manner so as to give a feel of importance and sophistication. Management is often associated with complex presentations and detailed analysis. However, I feel that the tagline of Tally, “Power of Simplicity” does hold true even in the world of management.

Strategies employed by companies have been more successful when they have kept it simple and straight. Companies trying out complex strategies have often faced obstacles in the implementation stages, thus causing total failure of the plan. The best example of the power of keeping things simple is when Gmail was introduced. Gmail and Gtalk were introduced with a simple format unlike the already existing yahoo messenger, which was heavy on the system, and complex to use. This factor worked to the advantage of the Google group, and Gmail completely took over yahoo mail. Currently, the popularity and presence of gmail is a lot more than that of yahoo.

Another example of the negatives of complexities is the case of P&G. When a new marketing manager joined the company, he assumed that the problem the company faces is to find new ways to sell stuff. However, the problem was different. P&G had 31 varieties of Head & Shoulders, which made it very tough for the consumers to identify and connect with one variety of it. The number of complex deals and coupons associated with each of these products were too many. The company resorted to slashing down the number of variants to half, and reducing the associated offers also, after which the share of the hair care segment alone increased by 5 points.

Why is it that iPods have gained immense popularity? It is because the product is incredibly simple to use and handle. None of the iPods come with a user manual when bought. Anyone who buys an iPod will be able to understand its working within 5 minutes of using it. Apple takes special care to ensure that their products are never complicated, and that the common man is able to use it without hassles. The cloud technology that is gaining so much popularity now is because of the simplicity of usage that people find convenient in it. Users love it that there is no need to install softwares and worry about storage space.

Even in the case of organizational structures, companies that have complex hierarchical structures tend to spend time and resources in solving issues associated with that, rather than concentrate on increasing their revenues and improving their operations. Thus, keeping the structure as simple as possible is what is important while developing organizational structures.

No matter what common perception of management and strategy is, I strongly believe that simplicity is the most effective strategy that one can implement for the success of their company