Leading Through Overload
In 1998, the phrase "its been emotional" left the lips of Vinnie Jones in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. A description of a wild ride of highs and lows with wacky characters, even weirder incidents, and a lot of carnage. It seems to be a common reflection many have about the year past.
It was a big year with more of everything everywhere. A record number of elections, an endless stream of natural disasters, more businesses expiring than ever (especially in retail), and I feel like we hit peak reality TV in terms of pure mass (sorry, not a positive thing in my view).
Mass layoffs were in the news seemingly every week in both the private and public sectors (Microsoft cut 1900 people, Blackrock cut 1% of its workforce, NZ Government laid off over 1000 employees across Education, Business, Environment, Justice and many more departments), while 'For Sale' signs in a slow market littered our suburban streets as the cost of the global disruption a few years ago hit many (if not most) households.
But, 2024 also gave us a new global overlord in the form of Taylor Swift (seriously, she moved economic markets - phenomenal), showed us why rap dancing is not an Olympic sport, and the one people of my vintage have been waiting for - the 90's were back! Baggy is back with remnants of Stussy Pants and Grunge emerged in the fashion world.
It truly felt like a big year where dynamic shifts culturally and in technology hit our business practices and daily lives significantly.
A bit of time out over the festive period can recharge the batteries, but is there anything to signal things will slow down? As the world invests into its latest obsession and bright shiny toy, Artificial Intelligence, we can expect the speed of life to go supersonic. If 2024 ran you ragged, then be prepared for its sassier, wilder, less predictable and smarter sibling, 2025.
No matter what, I feel there is one certainty this year ahead will provide: More Information.
Our news feeds, social feeds, emails, devices, and brains will be consuming even more information than ever before. The amount of data the world will push into our minds will be unrelenting. In some ways this is good - our access to news, opinions, insights, and detail will help us to dig, delve, poke, and prod at problems and to test solutions as well as give us wider perspective on many topics. But, there will be tolls to pay on this is too:
More Info = Less Truth - Yuval Noah Harari's latest book Nexus delves into the history and current state of information networks. He elegantly discusses how the overflowing amount of information in our world actually lowers the ability for us to see, find, and understand truths. One reason is that truth requires more work to verify, triangulate, articulate, and publish (i.e. truth is much more costly and very inconvenient to produce and it will be buried by the vast growing mountain of constant information). Myth and misinformation is easy, cheap, abundant, and convenient to create and access.
More Info = More Pressure - is there anything more stressful than getting to the point where your phone is running out of memory space? That moment when there isn't enough room to hold all the data has no hack. Delete as many photos as you want. It won't help. There is no escape - an upgrade no one wants to buy is inevitable. The cost and associated administration and anxiety of storing and organising all this data is a real pressure point. From an infrastructure perspective (for organisations as well as individuals), but more prominently from a decision making perspective too much data causes confusion and cognitive dissidence.
Overload is a real challenge we are facing as leaders and professionals.
The deeply engrained 'more, more, more' attitude certainly won't help. So, what will?
Simple is valuable
A coaching client last year put together a brilliant strategy that would save jobs, create a national competitive advantage, and would provide a decade of future growth for the national business. It was well researched, rationally laid out, and had all the details to cover any curly questions from senior leaders. It did not get approved. Why? The senior leaders did not understand it because it was too complex for them. Even though we felt it was already simplified, in the end it wasn't simplified enough. The harsh truth is they didn't get it. This happens almost daily to every single one of us. We over-explain and shoe-horn as much info into things to feel credentialed in a vain attempt to deliver. Yet, the ability to distill ideas into simple succinct messaging is only going to become more valuable this year and beyond.
Subtract more than you want to
My favourite facilitation question coming out of last year was, "what is the one thing?" This can be applied to challenges, actions, opportunities, weaknesses, and practices. My favourite on a personal level is practices. What is the one practice you want to do this year that would make the biggest difference to your performance? Answering this with execution will make more difference than the thousands of things our business, clients, competitors, friends, and social feeds are tempting us to do. Strategically, I encourage Boards and Execs to focus on the 'one problem they want to eradicate from their business in the next year/3 years/5 years'. This is what 'leaving a legacy' looks like.
Ultimately, get as many strategic initiatives, projects, and tasks out of your workflow, and that of your people. If you need to work on three projects, then strip out the number of steps/tools/reports people need to use or do for them. Your ability to lead with subtraction will relieve pressures on everyone.
Strip back to naked
First principles are wonderfully valuable because by definition they cannot be broken down any further. They are the atoms upon which everything else is built. The ethics by which a person lives their lives may be striped back to the Golden Rule. Business economics may be striped back to Supply vs Demand. Management may be striped back to old school business management principles like "what gets measured gets managed" (Peter Druker).
As leaders we do not bring value by complicating ideas. We bring value by doing the work to strip ideas back to easy-to-understand principles people can comprehend and act upon easily. This represents a distinct competitive advantage for any leader able to do this often and effectively.
In a world full of information overload and beyond, those leaders able to protect their people from the information barrage will succeed. People will feel safer, calmer, and have the required head space to perform in what will continue to be a dynamic and challenging environment.
Those investing in simplification, subtraction, and striping back are sure to have another 'emotional' year, but most definitely without the feeling of being in a Guy Richie saga.
