What Are You Overcomplicating?

During the space race of the sixties NASA needed a pen that would write in zero-gravity so their astronauts could take notes and keep records while in space. Since pen technology is based on a gravity feed of ink to the point, NASA spent a million dollars (in 1960's dollars) to design a pen that would work in zero-gravity. What did the cosmonauts use in space? A pencil.

Sometimes I see businesses overcomplicate simple matters and spend hours in meetings agonizing over issues because they are usually focusing on the wrong question. The question wasn't what pen can write in zero-gravity, the question was how can an astronaut write in space?

What are the questions your leadership team is spending hours of meeting time on, that might be the wrong question?

Are you agonizing and focusing on how and where to trim expenses and labor or are you looking for innovative ways to find more sales to keep you from having to make those layoffs?

Are you asking questions like, "Why did this happen and who is responsible?" Or are you asking, "How can we solve this problem and prevent it from happening again?"

Look at the issues you are facing and trying to address. Which ones are you overcomplicating? You probably can save your organization thousands of dollars and hundreds of man hours by doing this one thing today.