Is ‘Chief Simplification Officer’ Your Next Title?

Icelandic dairy company Siggi’s is the latest brand to create the role of Chief Simplification Officer (CSO). And while the announcement may be a slick PR stunt, the job listing credits the company’s culture shift toward simplicity as being “rooted in the idea of freedom and flexibility.”

The growing need for CSOs has been embraced by the world’s largest beauty company L’Oreal, tech start-ups like CodeXTeam and IAIAO — and every-sized company in between. Through the process of researching and writing Why Simple Wins, I interviewed more than 100 leaders across the world, including several CSOs, and discovered common tactics used by the most effective simplifiers in leadership.

If you’re in a senior position and find yourself on a crusade against complexity, explore the simplifying steps below. They can provide a framework for simplifying in your current scope…and give you real-world experience toward a future role as CSO.

1. Articulate a simple vision. Simplification is more likely to take hold when others are invested in your cause so invite colleagues and employees to weigh in. Sample survey questions could include: “In one sentence, what does simplification mean to us?” And “how could a simpler way of working impact our org or the overall business?” And “which tasks from your team are you willing to suspend in service of simplifying?” Incorporate everyone’s insights to questions like these — and give credit where it’s due when you share the vision enterprise-wide.

2. Simplify your strategy. Like master gardeners, simplifiers recognize that clearing away excess will produce a stronger crop. In your own org, recalibrate your approach to strategic planning by embracing a less-is-more mindset. Don’t add any additional tactics, goals, products or programs unless one is simultaneously removed from your existing plan. By holding the line, you’re sending a public message about what simplifying represents (and your commitment to it).

3. Subscribe to subsidiarity. Pushing decision-making down to the lowest possible level is known as the principle of subsidiarity. A group of managers at Merck Canada decided to put this concept into practice. Collectively, they agreed to stop making decisions that their direct reports were already authorized to make. Overall, people made smart decisions and reported feeling more ownership over the outcomes. Better yet, a handful of employees who’d been underperforming began to change their behavior once they were held publicly accountable for decisions. And the best outcome of all? Those managers actually found themselves with several hours of newly freed-up time every month.

In your own org, task each of your direct reports to make three decisions this month that would normally involve your input or approval. Questions like “Should I invite Priya to the weekly business review meeting?” or “Can I open a position for a new comms director?” should no longer be directed your way. A month from now, gather your team and find out which decisions they made and what other types of decisions they’ll commit to making on their own next month. Once people get used to decision-making, increase the number of monthly choices they’re making to five, 10, and eventually 20.

4. Flatten your hierarchy. As companies grow, management layers are added — and decision-makers become removed from realities on the ground. Eventually good ideas, and even industry-disrupting inventions like the iPhone, are at risk of being ignored or late to market. To identify streamlining opportunities for your org chart, consider each person’s role in the existing reporting structure. Do you spot any redundancies? Are people siloed? Compare your reporting structure to industry norms: Could you increase the range of control for certain roles? Answer these questions thoughtfully and with the goal of de-layering.

5. Set clear metrics. From reducing management layers to increasing employee retention, the right metrics will support your simplification goals and encourage behavior change. Sample metrics could range from “decrease in number of approval layers for hiring” and “number of monthly hours saved from subsidiary decision-making” to “number of steps removed from our product-development process.” Feel free to create your own metrics, as long as they benefit both your business unit and the company.

Before deciding on your goals for each metric, be sure to determine its starting place — your baseline — so you can see how far you’ve come a few months from now. With each metric, calculate where things stand today and where you want them to be. For example, if you currently spend seven hours a month approving, signing off or otherwise reviewing people’s decisions, then 7 is your baseline. Now assign a goal to each metric that lands somewhere between realistic and aspirational.

Finally, ask a few trusted managers to scan your proposed metrics for unintended consequences. For example, if you want to track “amount of cost savings resulting from eliminated meetings,” make sure that metric doesn’t push people to blindly eliminate as many meetings as possible. There may be an existing daily huddle that prevents redundancies and increases workflow. Eliminating a valuable meeting like this could end up costing the organization money, so communicate your objectives as well as metrics. Consider customizing any metric (i.e., track cost savings by eliminating long meetings) with the potential for negative side effects.

Chief simplification officers make it their mission to ensure that each team member can navigate their workday with as little complexity as possible. Whether your company comprises 100k employees or a few dozen, the tactics above are designed to make simplicity a habit at every level. By positioning simplicity as the ethos of your organization — and adding metrics that motivate people — it can drive positive change in decision-making, reporting structure and employee engagement.