Complexity Is Not Strategy.

I recently sat through a strategy presentation that had 40 slides.

There were Venn diagrams. Arrows were pointing in four different directions. There were words like “synergistic cross-pollination” and “omni-channel paradigm shift.”

By slide 20, I looked around the room. Everyone was nodding. Nobody was smiling. And I guarantee you, not a single person knew what they were supposed to do when they walked out of that room.

This is the biggest lie in modern business: The belief that complexity equals intelligence.

We have convinced ourselves that if a strategy is simple, it’s “unsophisticated.” If it’s easy to understand, it must not be worth a high consultant fee. So we add layers. We add jargon. We add conditions.

But in my experience building Ergode from a single book sale to a global operation, I’ve learned the opposite is true.

Complexity is usually a hiding place for a lack of conviction.

The “Napkin Test”

Here is the reality of business: Your strategy is not what you say in the boardroom. Your strategy is what your employees do when you aren’t there.

If your strategy requires a 10-page PDF to explain, it will not survive contact with reality.

The best strategies I have ever seen can pass the Napkin Test. Can you explain how we win in three sentences?

• Amazon: Vast selection, low prices, fast delivery.
• Southwest Airlines: The low-cost provider. (Which means they don’t serve meals, they don’t do assigned seats, and they fly one type of plane).
• Ergode: We take local brands and give them global logistics.

That’s it.

When the strategy is that clear, decision-making becomes fast. “Does this make us faster?” If yes, do it. If no, kill it.

Strategy is Subtraction, Not Addition

Most founders think strategy is a To-Do list. “We will do X, AND Y, AND Z.”

That is not a strategy. That is a wish list.

Strategy is sacrifice. Strategy is looking at ten good ideas and killing nine of them so that the one best idea gets all the oxygen.

When you have a complex strategy, you are trying to hedge your bets. You are saying “yes” to everything because you are terrified of being wrong. But by saying yes to everything, you end up with a diluted mess that moves nowhere.

Complexity is a Tax on Execution

Every layer of complexity you add to your business is a tax.

• It taxes your speed.
• It taxes your communication.
• It taxes your team’s morale.

I have seen brilliant teams fail because they were paralyzed by a complex roadmap. And I have seen average teams win because they had a simple plan and executed it violently.

The Monday Morning Rule

So, how do you know if your strategy is too complex?

Use the “Monday Morning Rule.”

If you present your strategic vision on Friday, does your team know exactly what to do differently on Monday morning?

If the answer is “we need a follow-up meeting to unpack this,” you have failed.

Keep It Simple, Stupid.

When we started, our strategy was: Buy books cheap, sell them for a margin.

As we grew to $150M, it would have been easy to get fancy. To start using words like “vertical integration ecosystems.”

But we fought to keep it simple. Connect supply to demand.

Don’t be impressed by big words and complex charts. Be impressed by clarity. Be impressed by the leader who can look at a mess and say, “We are doing this one thing, and we are going to be the best in the world at it.”

Clear strategy wins. Complex strategy creates meetings.

Choose wisely.

Regards,
Rupesh