I was chatting with a colleague today about one of my major frustrations with my consultant colleagues. Consultants seem to have a desire to make things that are complex somehow magically simple, or I would say simplistic.  But there is an important difference between ‘dumbing something down’ and pushing through complexity to a point where you can see a profoundly simple solution. A profoundly simple understanding of a complex situation is one where the hard work of comprehending the complexity has been accomplished, and as a result the solution appears.

Here’s the problem. That type of work generally requires a joint effort – it is true knowledge work, because it takes different perspectives, approaches, and thought processes to tackle a truly complex situation. It is rare that a single individual can go off and construct a profoundly simple solution to a complex problem, but individuals can reduce a complex situation to a simplistic set of tasks or steps that lead to a simple solution.  Effectively solving complex problems through collaboration that results in a profoundly simple solution that everyone can execute against is a LOT of work, and it tends to be messy work – not linear, hard to anticipate and structure, and highly iterative as the team works through the complexity.It happens in moments, in flashes, and in intense work marathons. It is unpredictable.  Consultants have a disturbing need box everything into deliverable timeframes, where their people are billable 40 hours a week for a defined period of time.  That’s inconvienent for the reality of highly strategic work.

Just think about what happens when you do it right – you can end up with a well aligned team that understands their reality, not some simplistic version of it, and is able to navigate it correctly. That’s pretty cool.