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It seems that many people in business have a knack for making even the simplest of things difficult. A member of my Mentor Program telephoned needing urgent advice. You do know that dentists, doctors and lawyers receive urgent phone calls from their clients. As a management consultant, it is not common for me to receive life or death phone calls seeking my instant advice. What was so important?
“Should I, or shouldn’t I, change my company name to ...”
This consultant who is exceptionally good at what he does, was bereft with anxiety about the business name for his practice. He had become consumed with this dilemma. What had compounded his stress was asking twenty or so people whether they liked his existing business name, or alternative (a), or alternative (b). Naturally, the jury was anything but unanimous, which only compounded in his mind the predicament.
This simple, yet far too common instance of misdirected energy, is hobbling even the quality thoroughbreds in business today. In the past, too many business books, consultants and speakers have needlessly confused and intimidated novice and expert business people alike. People today worry that if the answer is not complicated and convoluted then how could it possibly be any good?
In the fourteenth century an English logician and Franciscan friar named William of Ockham iterated a principle, which has become known as Occam’s Razor. The principle is the Law of Parsimony: “entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.” Literally translated it is “entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity.” Often paraphrased as “All things being equal, the simplest solution is the best.”
I have been accused of being intolerant, acerbic, and other generally displeasing attributes at some point in my work, and I think they are sometimes correct. However, my role as a professional consultant and mentor is not to be loved or idolised. It is unfortunate though, that some take offense when I interrupt a diatribe with, “Where's this going?” It is not just the decision-making that people are overcomplicating; it is the asking of questions and the dissemination of information as well.
One of the first rules for members of the mentor program is to make questions as specific as is possible, and ask the question first before providing a lot of background. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Fred Astaire was a magnificent dancer because he made it look effortless and natural. The challenge for us all is to dance to our own tempo and not be concerned about tangling-up trying to tango. If you ask enough people what they think of your business name, somebody will consider it their job to tell you it’s wrong.
Many decisions in business at a managerial level or above are over-thought.
© Ric Willmot 2008 All rights reserved.
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