Recently I had the chance to hear Verne Harnish give a talk and one of his messages was that businesses need to focus on making things easier. Too often, companies start doing something one way and just keep adding complexity to it. One exercise is to sit down with the executive team and ask the following questions:
- How can we make it easier to buy from us?
- How can we make it easier to use our product?
- How can we make it easier to give us feedback?
- How can we make it easier to get support from us?
- How can we make it easier for our team members to do their job?
A simple starting point with these questions is the “five whys” — ask the question “why” five times, just like a three-year old does and see what you uncover. There’s always room for improvement and asking the question “how can we make this easier” is a good start.
What else? What are some other areas that companies need to make easier?
David Cummings on Startups 