EmploymentScape Chief Executive Officer, Harrison Barnes discusses the importance of keeping work simple and uncomplicated.

Harrison believes that the ‘complexity creep’ is highly damaging not only to the kind of work you produce but the work persona you maintain. When persons, businesses, or organizations grow, they experience immense problems and gain less rewards because they invariably involve a host of other things in their work. Citing the example of General Motors, Harrison explains how, layers of other things which pile over the ‘main’ work, puts the ‘main’ work in the background, which in due course, loses its significance and hence its worth. So, if General Motors’ efforts are not concentrated on making cars, then the quality of the cars goes down. If the quality of the cars goes down, the entire business suffers.

It is complexity which destroys many careers and prevents you from reaching your full potential and being everything you possibly can be. Many times, people are so engaged in numerous activities that they lose out on the basic. Being concerned with things happening in the periphery of the work place, for instance, office politics, gossip, or the economy, diverts your mind from your main duties and work suffers. You must really focus. Focus on the work you are meant to do, and reduce or better still, eliminate every possible complexity that could hinder the quality of your performance.

In conclusion, Harrison advises on making sense of complexity. He says that, “If you do not control complexity and reduce it, complexity will control you”. To be successful, you need to watch complexity in your life and career, eliminate it as much as possible, and concentrate on the work in front of you.