KISS and Cannabis
“Make things as simple as possible, but no simpler.” Albert Einstein
No, this post is not about a great rock band. It is about dramatically improving your operational and financial results.
KISS or ‘Keeping it Simple, Stupid’ is more than a virtuous slogan. Strategies and methods that have been designed with simplicity in mind have demonstrated compelling ROI, driving lower operational costs (direct & indirect), fewer errors, and greater organizational speed & agility.
A typical KISS-based cost savings effort pays back 8-10x the investment in the streamlining initiative. And let’s not forget the significant improvements in corporate performance.
KISS-inspired practices include shrinking the number of people touching a process; establishing a centralized data repository; standardizing IT and; pushing down decision making to the right level.
However, removing complexity and applying KISS principles is not always easy. Large businesses can’t pause to be retooled. Their activities or practices aren’t always codified. The company will have shared responsibilities & budgets, multiple systems, different facilities etc.
Plus, simple is hard to achieve. Take something as fundamental as writing an important email. Boiling down your thoughts to communicate exactly what you want to say, in an easily understood fashion takes time and careful consideration.
Now imagine tackling your major operations and business activities.
Yet, the returns are impressive. I have the case studies to prove it.
Outlining a basic KISS framework is beyond this post’s scope. In general, these projects involve lots of time & motion studies, process mapping & redesign, automation assessments and financial analysis. The best approach is to start with one functional area and prove out value.
Below are 5 learnings from my cannabis, CPG and financial services KISS projects:
1. Simplicity is about effective management
Assigning decision rights to the wrong level, poor staff empowerment, management insecurity and siloed data access will all foster complexity.
2. SOPs need to be used with caution
Poorly placed or an excessive numbers of SOPs will increase complexity. Outside of compliance requirements, why use a papered procedure when good judgment will suffice?
3. Automation will help – when used correctly
Technology can unlock huge savings across the enterprise. But it’s not always a panacea. Automation can exacerbate complexity when poorly designed or implemented.
4. Some complexity is needed
Certain difficult or mission-critical activities necessitate depth and breadth of action plus built-in redundancy. And collaboration and customized outputs are by nature knotty endeavours.
5. Change management is essential to realizing the value from KISS projects
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