BCG's Smart Simplicity concept eliminates unnecessary complicatedness from companies—by diagnosing problems and designing solutions.
Expanding regulations, new technologies, and rising customer expectations are just some of the complexities that organizations confront. Historically, companies have responded to such external requirements and challenges by increasing their internal complicatedness, which BCG defines as the number of procedures, vertical layers, interface structures, coordination bodies, decision approvals, and other add-ons.
Complicatedness results in many performance issues, such as high costs, slow decision-making, siloed thinking, a lack of innovation, and difficulty getting things done—all common concerns of CEOs today. While complexity is a fact of business life, complicatedness doesn’t have to be.
By Yves Morieux and Peter Tollman
Order on Amazon Order on Barnes & Noble What People Are Saying To Boost Productivity, Try Smart SimplicityBCG has applied the Smart Simplicity approach in various types of businesses—including banks, utilities, insurance agencies, retail chains, and manufacturers—and delivered a wide range of sustainable performance improvements. The scope of Smart Simplicity has further extended to address complex global challenges, including hunger, climate change, and urban mobility.
Preventing stunting is a complicated problem because it requires well-coordinated interventions delivered to children at scale. BCG’s Smart Simplicity approach helped develop the Stunting-Free Village model.
A large industrial company needed to tackle complexity and improve product quality. With smart simplicity, their purchasing department achieved a 20% reduction in costs while maintaining quality levels.
A telecom-system manufacturer needed to foster internal cooperation and speed up product innovation. Using our smart simplicity approach, they gained a 20% time-to-market advantage over competitors in 15 months.
BCG’s Peter Tollman says that organizations need new approaches to help them succeed in an age of increasing complexity.
The pandemic unleashed a global experiment in productivity and performance. Just as public health officials have much to learn from the crisis, so too do corporate executives.
