Wednesday, October 10, 2012

How do you make things complicated?

Posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2012 by International Coach Federation

We can all benefit from simplicity. In business, in our activities, with our team, simplicity is that one element that not only makes processes easier to perform, but can make every system adaptable as well. However, simplicity is not an “easy conclusion to draw “– because it seems that it’s easier to make things complicated.

Alexandra was running a company in the banking sector for some time and was anxiously waiting to close a deal with another important company which would have strongly boosted her business activity. But for an unknown reason, the General Manager of the company was always postponing the deal.

Alexandra was sure that the reason for this delay was related to several financial issues her company was confronting with recently, which made her business seem unprofitable for that specific year. In order to change this, Alexandra began to invest in serious efforts: organizing new strategies, delegating new tasks, firing a few employees…After a while, things began to change in a positive way, but by the end of the business year, the deal still hadn’t taken place. Alexandra was convinced that her company still didn’t build enough trust and so she felt like she needed to push her limits even further.

But one day, during a conference which involved the two companies, Alexandra organized a meeting with the General Manager of the company she wanted to be partner with and talked about every aspect of their business, except the reason for which the deal would not close. Each of the two leaders avoided direct confrontation on this matter, which left the situation unclear. Both were waiting for the other one to bring the subject in the conversation, but neither actually did it.

Time passed and the deal was not closed even in this very day and Alexandra is now frequently thinking about the real reasons why this situation happened.

The question Alexandra asked was: How do you make things complicated? How or why would you change a simple action you have to fulfill into a complicated one?

How do you make things complicated?

What are you postponing now, when the action is still simple to fulfill and wait until it becomes difficult and involves more effort and resources?

Writer at Financial Times, Tim Harford, named this type of behavior “the God complex”, which means that no matter how complex a situation is, you have an overwhelming belief that you are right in the solutions you bring. The problem with this type of behavior is that it gives us a shallow perspective based on the ego of a vast business experience.

Rodica Obancea, ACC
If you are looking for different answers, you will only get them if you act differently – if you act the same way you did, you will always get the same results.

Rodica Obancea, ACC, is passionate about change, emergence, living systems. She works within business environment, with managers, teams for achieving ambitious results. For more information, visit www.successcoaching.ro.

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