The antidote for complexity is simplicity
I have been working for over a decade with online businesses and for each year the complexity of doing online business increases. For each year that passes we get more of everything. More systems, more options, more technology, more marketing, more segments, more options and so on. Companies that grasp these changes can harvest the new opportunities but companies like the one I work at, have hard time understanding and adjusting to these changes.
To counter complexity you need to head towards simplicity.
I can see how people struggle to take the right decisions. Decisions on how to prioritize, how to organize and how to think in a complex online world. As a manager you can easily feel overwhelmed. But there are a few steps that can help you. To counter complexity you need to head towards simplicity. For a middle size business these simple steps are a good start:
1. Understand your core business. Set your strategies accordingly.
2. Understand how your customer journey looks like and setup your organisation to serve the customer journey.
3. User experience is the only game in town. Everything you do should increase user experience.
4. Make your website (or app) your most important asset. Make it cutting edge.
5. Get different online specialists in-house, not out-sourced. You need your specialists to develop your strategies and having them in-house will make you a lot smarter.
6. Get the necessary tools your experts recommend.
7. Develop cutting edge digital services to build loyalty through user experience.
8. Once you get to this step, repeat from step 1.
Seven simple steps but you will be surprised how many companies have problem with these. Of course every company have their own set of challenges but if you want to be in the digital game you have to think of these steps today.
The solution for complexity lies in your own business. Your customers want to have simple solutions to their problems. So your success lies in your core business.
The antidote for complexity is simplicity.
Read more about digital business in my blog.
With a pinch of salt, and a twinkle in my eye, on LinkedIn since 2006. Used some Oxford commas and em dashes before AI…
8 年Often, the focus turns to tools instead of the business. Don't fall into the trap of getting the latest tool(s) in an attempt to stay ahead. Look at the business and choose the tool(s) you need. Don't adapt your business to tools. Obvious, right? Yet, it's possibly the most common mistake.
COO | Head of Partnerships
8 年Theodor Mavrodis - fully with you on this one. I can see that as we get a more complex online environment with an every growing number of focus areas and suppliers to provide them, we get blinded by day-to-day work we need to reach business goals. In effect, complex online organizations start focusing inwards with more time spent nourishing their own perspective, rather than looking out the office windows and thinking about what customers might need to experience to feel fulfilled. The challenge and focus of our digital managers going forward will be keeping our online teams focused on the customer; those who we have always aimed to serve and please and serve their needs with simplicity in design. This is a process that starts with the system architects who need to provide a setup to deliver a fully agile experience, to the heroes in the content department helping convey our message. All of this adds up, and as you say -user experience is the only game in town - spot on Theo.