KEEP IT SHORT AND SIMPLE (KISS)

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Keep It Short and Simple (KISS)

Strategic planning usually involves setting of ambitious goals which in most cases goes be beyond the capacity of the organisation to achieve in light of the surrounding realities. These goals are usually put across to outline the direction of the business in a bid to justify the existence of the Management to the shareholders.  “If you miss the moon you will definitely land among the stars” is the common statement often asserted by the managers.

Whilst there is nothing wrong with being ambitious, experience has proved that the narrower the focus of the company, the more likely it is to achieve the goals and vice versa. It goes without saying that trying to solve everything at once will result in the organisation not solving anything at all. It is no secret that those managers who let “greed” control their planning have nothing to show for their approach. On the other hand, companies such as Apple have managed to create amazing products which have been highly demanded due to their ability to narrow down their focus on one product at a time.

In addition, productivity improvement also requires that one makes smaller targets which are challenging but realistic. Setting the bar too high only serves to demotivate the team members when the team finally fails to achieve the set goals. In contrast, small achievements help to build confidence within the team and to motivate team members to try and go for higher achievements. I have to stress out that I do not advocate for easy goals in this article but rather for challenging but realistic goals which allow your team to realise their full potential without going beyond it. In my career as a productivity practitioner, I have often seen those organisations who take one step at a time able to reach unprecedented heights in the lives of their organisations.

Most of the managers know that goals need not be too big or too many at a time but the manner in which the ideas come is usually what causes them to end up overwhelmed. At first they start with one or two goals but as time progresses, new ideas will crop up and they will seem better than the previous ones. Consequentially, the inability to say no to good ideas will make the organisation to be overburdened resulting in stretching of focus across competing goals. This then results in inadequate monitoring effort being channeled to the goals.

There is therefore need to balance between being ambitious and being realistic. In fact, I recommend that you KISS; that is, Keep It Short and Simple when setting productivity related goals and indeed any other goals. This will yield far reaching results both for your team and your organisation. The goals must be both worthy and winnable.