Are your business processes and IT systems too complex, too expensive? Are you trying to figure out how to take advantage of AI?

What we see today is a compelling need to simplify everything business and tech. This blog post focuses on applying Fierce Reduction: a mindset that leads to simplifying everything business and tech before we deliver AI Agents and hopefully, simplify business and tech.

Fierce Reduction is the practice of aggressively simplifying all business processes, tasks and information systems by removing redundant or non-essential elements before considering additions. Its key elements are:

• Eliminate Redundancy: Strip away processes or features that do not add value.
• Prioritise User Needs: Focus on what users truly require, avoid technical bloat.
• Apply No-Code First: Leverage simple technologis that are intuitive to use.

So, Fierce Reduction is, first and foremost, an attitude of mind. From the outset, you should pause and take a critical look at everything related to everyday business processes and tasks to see what you can eliminate, before you contemplate new digital innovation.

Complexity drains resources. Studies indicate that overly intricate processes and IT systems can slash productivity by up to 40% (McKinsey & Company, 2020³). In sales, convoluted pipelines delay deals; for executives, bloated dashboards obscure critical insights. Simplification addresses these pain points, freeing teams to focus on high-value tasks.

Less Is More

Pablo Picasso’s The Bull is a series of eleven lithographs created in 1945⁴. It depicts the bull at various stages of abstraction, starting with a realistic depiction and ending with nothing but a few lines. This review demonstrates art as seeing basic patterns amongst the 'noise'; seeing basic forms amongst the complex. In business,

Fierce Reduction means the same: seeing basic forms among the complex.

Unlike minimalism, which reduces to a bare aesthetic, or Lean, which iterates toward efficiency, Fierce Reduction takes a bold first step: subtract aggressively. This proactive stance ensures that complexity is tackled upfront, making it ideal for fast-moving, knowledge-rich settings.

In 2021, American scientist Leidy Klotz wrote a book called Subtract⁵. He called this topic 'The Untapped Science of Less'. In this work, the author has made an extensive study of using less to change the system: scaling subtraction. To quote:

"Essence is the soul of complexity, its irreducible building blocks. All the complexity brought by biological evolution, for example, builds from the genetic code within DNA, which is represented by just four letters, combined into patterns of three letters each. Genetic code is essence."

Furthermore, Klotz goes on to talk about working memory: the cognitive system that temporarily holds the information we have available for processing - meaning, the trade off between the level of detail required to complete a task and our ability to avoid what others may call 'cognitive overload'.

Now, if we look at the state of software today, we see the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model delivering a continuous stream of more features, with the aim of maximising our commitment to high user adoption and renewals to annual subscriptions. What follows is bloat.

We also have an information technology industry that, twenty years ago, made the shift to cloud computing and pay-as-you-go SaaS. This was countering the complexity and cost of the-then client/server on-premise hardware and clunky perpetual software licences.

Where are we now, twenty years later with SaaS? The answer is deep in a quagmire of complex systems. This is where the quest to add features many times each year by the SaaS publishers is driven in the mistaken belief that this is the best way to ensure year-on-year customer retention.

As with Picasso's eleven stages of abstraction, it was the thinking observed by Ken Segall⁶ of another genius - Steve Jobs, cofounder of Apple. This is the pursuit of simplifying every idea, every innovation down to its essence. To quote from Segall's first book:

"In all cases, it's a reminder of what sets Apple apart from other technology companies and what makes Apple stand out in a complicated world: a deep, almost religious belief in the power of simplicity."

Rules

In writing 10 Laws of Simplicity, John Maeda¹² created a timeless work, nearly twenty years ago, on how to simplify everything business, life and tech:

1. Reduce: The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction. This law emphasises the importance of removing unnecessary elements and complexities to focus on what truly matters. In the context of Fierce Reduction, this means eliminating excess features in products or services, thereby enhancing the user experience and effectiveness.

2. Organise: Organisation of complexity is crucial in maintaining simplicity. By categorising and structuring information or processes, streamlining communication and operations. Organising information helps in a Fierce Reduction strategy, making it easier for users to navigate and understand.

3. Time: Savings in time can constitute simplicity. People are often overwhelmed by choices and information. Thus, reducing the time spent navigating complex experiences embodies Fierce Reduction. Simplifying processes or decisions can lead to significant time savings for both users and businesses.

4. Learn: Simplicity can facilitate better learning and understanding. By stripping away complexity, individuals can focus on grasping essential concepts more effectively. This is Fierce Reduction: by removing distractions, the core message or function becomes clearer and easier to absorb.

5. Differences: Simple does not always mean the same. Recognising and embracing differences can lead to innovative solutions. Fierce Reduction means focusing on unique attributes can lead to differentiation in the marketplace.

6. Emotion: Simplicity is more about the experience than the object. Emotions play a critical role in how individuals perceive simplicity. Reducing complexity not only leads to better functionality but also enhances emotional engagement with products or services.

7. Trust: Simplicity builds trust. When something is straightforward and easy to use, people are more likely to trust it. Fierce Reduction means streamlining processes can enhance customer trust in a brand or service.

8. Failure: Simplicity can lead to fewer failures. By reducing complexity, there are fewer points of potential failure. In terms of Fierce Reduction, organisations should aim for fewer, more impactful initiatives rather than spreading themselves too thin with multiple complex projects.

Simplifiers

In their book Simplify, Richard Koch and Greg Lockwood⁷ cite powerful examples of what they called 'simplifiers': entrepreneurs like Henry Ford, who embraced a number of key principles that apply equally in today's business world:

• Redesign from first principles.
• Reduce product/service line variety.
• Reduce the number of components.
• Eliminate frills.
• Automate tasks.

What these authors went on to talk about was the 'Complexity Trap': the tendency to think that adding new features to a product or service is the only way to retain customers. This is especially true for the information technology industry, where leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) publishers typically commit to several product feature updgrades every few months.

When we look at Salesforce, as a startup challenger in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems in 1999, it delivered on the power of simplicity versus established on-premise software publishers, Siebel, Inc. Over time, 'feature creep' has undermined this advantage.

There are now early signs of disrupters entering the SaaS marketspace, talking of a new AI-powered technology that will change the way software is architected and priced. However, even with the introduction of AI, the Complexity Trap remains open.

I have two key questions for AI technology disrupters:
How will your AI product simplify the customer's business operations?
How will your product roadmap maintain a focus on simplicity and avoid the Complexity Trap?

Deep Work

If we want to subtract from everyday business processes and tasks, we also need to deal with what has been described as Deep Work⁸ by Cal Newport in his book of the same title. The author here defines Deep Work as:

"Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate."

Similarly, and inspired by an earlier work by thought leader Nicholas G. Carr⁹, Newport, goes on to define the opposite of Deep Work as Shallow Work:

"Noncognitively-demanding, logistical style tasks, often performed while distracted. These efforts tend to not create much new value in the world and are easy to replicate."

Of course, these books referenced above were mostly written before AI tech emerged. Today, AI has mostly an Augmentation role, as Copilot in the pursuit of Deep Work. Over time, AI will evolve into more of an Automation role, as Coworker to replace human labour for Shallow Work.

This also relates to something called Flow. I am not talking about the Salesforce technology of the same name, but a serious work from psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi¹⁰ which talks about a 'Flow State' that means productive, satisfying Deep Work.

In summary, a Flow State generates Deep Work. This relates to designing an AI-powered app as an Augmentation of human work, where Flow can be achieved if:

• It enables timely task completion.
• It maintains the user's attention.
• It provides continuous feedback.

From a User Experience (UX) Design perspective, Flow State can be thought of as a need to create a 'Meaningful Journey' as an intuitive path through a process. This is where Design Thinking and experiementation is key to understanding:

• What is intuitive without AI Augmentation.
• What is intuitive only when supported by AI Augmentation.
• What is so intuitive that AI Automation can completely replace human effort (unlikely today).

This also means ensuring Progressive Disclosure, where desktop, tablet and smartphone user interface layouts avoid cognitive overload by keeping actions to the simplest design per screen. This is key to our No-Code First approach with Salesforce and Google tech at Being Guided.

The last category replacing human effort with AI Automation could be thought of as something that has to pass a 'Turing Test¹¹. In this context, the author talks about a revision of Alan Turing's Imitation Game.

Today, this could simply mean that the Turing Test is passed if, say, a consumer talking to AI thinks they are talking to a human. Think about that, next time you wrestle with an online banking or retail app!

Next ...

The time has come to subtract, not add to current state business processes and corresponding IT systems. Keep it simple. Less is more. Before embracing AI in your Future State organisation, it is time to apply Fierce Reduction to your Current State environment.

Start with the broadest set of stakeholders and engage in Design Thinking¹. As this begins to reveal areas for simplifying business processes and tasks, This explores Current State services and systems as Future State areas for removing technical debt and improving user experience.

At Being Guided we combine Design Thinking with Value Engineering², creating compelling ROI Models for setting out the priorities related to transformation in your Future State scenarios. This is also where we work out where AI best fits a particular use case in digital app innovation.

Complexity is a challenge, but it’s one that knowledge-intensive organisations can and must conquer. Fierce Reduction provides a clear path to simplification, ensuring business processes and say, AI apps that are lean, effective, and user-centric.

Remember, subtract before you add - and simplify, before you engage in a new digital innovation.

References

1. The Hasso Plattner Institute of Design. (2004) Stanford d.school. https://dschool.stanford.edu/about
2. Miles, L.D. (1947). The Lawrence D. Miles Value Engineering Reference Center Collection.
   https://minds.wiscon.edu/handle/1793/301
3. McKinsey & Company. (2020). Simplifying Complexity: A Strategic Imperative. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/simplifying-complexity-a-strategic-imperative
4. Scott, D. (2019). The Bull by Pablo Picasso – A Lesson in Abstraction. Draw Paint Academy. https://drawpaintacademy.com/the-bull/
5. Klotz, L. (2021). Subtract. The untapped Science of Less. Flatiron Books. https://leidyklotz.com/media/
6. Segall, K. (2010). Insanely Simple. The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success. Penguin Group (USA), Inc. https://kensegall.com/books/
7. Koch, R. and Lockwood, G. Simplify. (2016). Piatkus.
   https://richardkoch.net/books/29-simplify
8. Newport, C. (2016). Deep Work. Grand Central Publishing. https://calnewport.com/deep-work-rules-for-focused-success-in-a-distracted-world/
9. Carr, N.G.(2010). The Shallows. Atlantic Books.
   https://www.nicholascarr.com
10. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow. The Psychology of Optimal Experience. HarperCollins. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224927532
11. Turing, A. (1949). Imitation Game. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
    https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/turing-test/
12. Maeda, J. (2006). The Laws of Simplicity. Design, Technology, Business, Life. Cambridge, Great Britain: MIT Press.
    https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262539470/the-laws-of-simplicity/