When Less is More — Why Leaders Simplify to Amplify

Fresh into a new leadership role, I inherited a transformation programme with hefty cost-cutting targets.
On paper, the plan listed hundreds of activities.
In practice, people were overloaded and paralysed.

People showed up with updates — but the room carried a quiet exhaustion.
Not from lack of will, but from being lost in detail.

And this is where so many change projects stall.
Not because people don’t care.
Not because the context is too tough.

But because under pressure, organisations often respond in the worst possible way:

They add more.
More meetings. More controls. More layers of approval.
As if complexity could steady the ship.

But complexity doesn’t steady us — it blinds us.
It narrows our field of vision.
It wraps everything in fog.

And if the vision is the compass, complexity is the fog that covers it.

Why simplifying matters more than ever

External complexity — shifting markets, regulation, remote work, stretched bandwidth — is real.
Leaders aren’t naïve for acknowledging it. They’re honest.

But the moment we counter external complexity with internal complexity, we create cognitive overload.

Teams spend their energy interpreting process
instead of energising purpose.

Clear simplicity reduces load.
It frees attention for contribution.
It converts friction into focus — and focus into collaboration.

A small experiment that changed everything

Because the team was drowning in detail, I proposed a different approach.

We could double down on control — more planning, more checkpoints, more sign-offs.
Or we could try something else:
remove layers, create clarity, and be intentional.

We chose the latter.
And did three things — deliberately and simply:

1. One plan. One North Star.

We shifted from competing roadmaps to one coherent plan.
We cut everything that didn’t directly serve the outcome.

2. We united.

We changed the meeting rhythm and the language.
Less reporting. More joint problem-solving. More ownership.
People moved from “my team” to “our plan.”

3. We embraced the why — repeatedly.

Each week, the narrative returned to the purpose.
Not as a slogan, but as a shared anchor.

What happened next surprised even the sceptics

People exhaled.
Energy returned.
Decisions sped up.
Colleagues offered help instead of defending turf.
Escalations dropped.

The shift was unmistakable:

The team moved from “waiting for direction” to “moving with conviction.”

They didn’t just execute the plan —
they owned it.

And when headquarters approved the simplified plan, something clicked.
Not because of their validation,
but because the team could finally see the forest instead of the trees.

The data backs it up

This isn’t anecdotal optimism.

McKinsey’s global research shows that organisations with clearly communicated, meaningful goals are
3× more likely to succeed in transformation programmes.

Not because clarity makes work easier —
but because clarity makes work possible.

Simple is not easy — it’s disciplined

Simplicity demands courage.
It asks leaders to step beyond the comfort of more process, more structure, more oversight —
and instead create environments that protect clarity.

It means saying no to “useful” activities that don’t move the needle.
It means holding the tension between detail and purpose.
And it means becoming the keeper of the why.

Three practical moves you can take today

1. Declare one visible priority.
Make it the one everyone can recite.

2. Cut a meeting.
Replace an hour of reporting with 45 minutes of focused problem-solving.

3. Return to your why — regularly.
Every update should begin with:
“This matters because…”

When leaders simplify — intentionally and repeatedly —
they transform not only processes,
but energy, trust, and performance.

The paradox is simple and beautiful:
When you clear the fog, people move faster, decide better, and walk together.

Final thought

Caring leaders don’t build bigger frameworks to trap uncertainty.
They remove the obstacles that cloud judgment.
They speak the vision so clearly and so consistently that people don’t get lost.

And when people know where they’re going,
they figure out how to get there.

— Christel

Research

McKinsey – How to gain and sustain a competitive edge through transformation
https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/transformation/our-insights/how-to-gain-and-sustain-a-competitive-edge-through-transformation