Have you ever met a hoarder? You know a person who collects so much clutter and useless stuff that it takes over the whole house leaving the hoarder himself in a terrible situation? Perhaps you have not met one yourself, but then at least you have seen a TV show involving one? One of those shows where they gather friends and family to get the situation cleaned up giving the hoarder a new chance in life. If you have not experienced either then here is a first-hand look.
So what is it that these troubled people and corporate America have in common? Here are 3 traits they share.
- Companies like hoarders tend to gather too much baggage in terms of too many people, too many processes and systems and way too much politics
- Companies are full of legacy from past times which has made them what they are, but also prevent them from truly moving forward
- Companies often fail to realize its problems despite them being right there in front of them
Many companies are dealing with complex issues based on the way they are built up which leads to increased costs. Headquarter and front line offices are duplicating work, decision processes are inefficient because too many people need to get involved and processes and systems are preventing employees from doing their job effectively. On top of that legacy systems are leading to even more inefficiencies. Just think about how you would build your company’s infrastructure from the ground up today if you could design it exactly how you want it. I am sure it would look quite different and would enable you to move forward and conquer new markets and customers like you have never seen before. Unfortunately many companies find it difficult to identify and deal with its issues hence they employ an army of consultants to come do it for them. Once the consultants leave a blueprint for a new organization is there yet with no buy-in from the rest of the organization the potential benefits will never be realized.
So what is the solution you ask? Employ complexity fighters to make sure you always stay on top of competition and reduce internal complexity. If you are not quite sure what a complexity fighter is you should read my post about them.
Does Your Company Employ Complexity Fighters?
If you don’t take action now your company will be buried alive by competition or even worse implode in internal complexity making you irrelevant faster than you can say hoarder!