Occam's Razor And How To Reduce Employee Turnover
Occam's Razor: 'When all things are equal, the simplest solution is probably right'
This principle, the simplified translation, is attributed to a 14th Century Franciscan friar named William of Ockham (ca. 1285-1349).
So what's 'Occam's Razor' got to do with leadership and business in the 'Noughties?' Well, the need for simplicity seems to be on everyone's lips at the moment. People's expectations and a never ending flow of technology are creating an increasingly complex society. Take cell phones as one example, they are getting 'smarter and smarter' all the time. There are very few people that use the full capabilities of even the average cell!
The concept of Leadership is also vast and full of models backed by complicated theory. When combined with business, we have a gigantic mix of models, assessments, theories, processes etc. etc. I just did a search on 'leadership' and got 131,000,000 results!!
Effective, Authentic, Integral; or whatever we are calling it at the moment, leadership comes down, for me, to some very simple principles:
Communication.
Commitment.
Character.
Consistency.
Change.
Credibility.
Community.
And, yes it is another model; The Seven C's of? I'm not sure 'of what' yet but I will keep you updated. At the same time this is, in the words of Frank Sinatra, '...my way.'
I have been lucky enough to have successfully lead teams, groups, departments and small organisations in many different forms and a wide variety of situations. Throughout it all my main focus has been the 'people' themselves. It may sound a bit corny; at the same time keeping your people 'happy' means more:
Engagement.
Creativity.
Flexibility
Productivity.
Profitability.
Once 'in' the organisation via correct and appropriate selection and recruitment balanced with fair and consistent performance management. 'My way' would be then to focus on talent retention and development. In one case I reduced employee turnover from 30% to less than 2% and in the words of my director at the time, "a strong group identity emerged and a highly motivated and fully engaged workforce (was) produced."
So let's break each of the '7' down a bit:
Communication: Coaching Style, Listening to Understand, Open,
Commitment: Enthusiasm, Balance, Protect & Defend, Compassion,
Character: Honesty, Integrity, Trustworthy, Sense of Humour, Humility, Confidence, Motivating, Challenging,
Consistency: At all Levels, At all Times, Fairness,
Change: Open Mindedness, Flexible, Optimistic,
Credibility: Competence, Self-awareness, Walk the Talk,
Community: Care, Team player, Relate to People, Relationship Builder,
These are my principles that I use when in any form of leadership situation. There could be more, but seven sounds good at the moment.
Over 30 years of leadership experience comes down to applying 'Occam's Razor' and always keeping it simple. That's not to say easy though!
'Simple' does not necessary mean 'easy!' And to use a 'middle' grade quote (Note 1) by Albert Einstein:
'Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.'
At the same time 'Success is S.I.M.P.L.E.' if you know how.
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Note 1: According to an old lecturer of mine, quotes can be graded in order of significance. The highest being 'ancient' i.e. by Lao Tzu, Confucius etc. Next would be 'middle' i.e. this century, Einstein and Jung etc. The lowest would be 'modern' i.e. anything from the last couple of years; that would be any of mine then!
by: Gen Wright
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