Five Future Strategies You Need Right Now by John Butman George Stalk

Author:John Butman, George Stalk [John Butman, George Stalk]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
Published: 2019-10-24T00:00:00+00:00

Embracing Complexity

There is much discussion today about the issue of complexity, particularly as it relates to the proliferation of products and services. The dominant view—as expressed in the popular media and in general conversation around the world’s conference and dinner tables—is that the product and service environments have gotten so complex that most ordinary mortals have lost their ability to cope. It’s time to simplify, simplify!

In business, I hear similar complaints from executives who view complexity as an enemy with which they constantly do battle. They watch as their company—usually in response to a perceived customer need and at the urging of their marketing and sales teams—adds more features and capabilities to their current products, creates variants, adds new models, enters more diverse markets, and develops additional ways to personalize and customize their offerings.

As the operational people become increasingly burdened with manufacturing, distributing, and supporting this ever-more daunting array of products—many of which are not turning much of a profit or are even losing money—they push back. Pretty soon, the internal disciplines are bickering so intensely that the noise can be heard by more than one member of the C suite. A multifunctional task force is duly formed. It spends months in investigation. The product portfolio is weeded and pruned. Costs go down and profits go up. Heroes are anointed, and then forgotten as customers are lost and sales targets are missed.

In response, marketing and sales call for more products and services, and the C suite, concerned about dipping performance results, supports them. And so the cycle repeats itself.

Yes, there is an emergency brewing that relates to complexity, but it’s not about finding ways to eliminate it—it’s about finding the best way to embrace complexity in order to achieve competitive advantage.

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