How To De-Complexify Your Enterprise

Originally Published: February 5, 2026

Organizational complexity can multiply over time. The combination of tools, systems, hierarchy, management, and processes can all interact with each other in a way that frustrates employees on the ground and prevents businesses from achieving their goals. De-complexification is about eliminating some of these unnecessary layers. The idea is to remove low-value complexity so that only the complexity that serves your interests remains. Here are some of the ways that you can achieve this that have already been proven by leading firms across multiple sectors. 

Build a culture that dislikes complexity

One of the first things you want to do is build a culture that actually dislikes complexity. Staff shouldn’t be getting rid of things that are complex just because they’re difficult to understand, but they should always have incentives to reduce complexity where possible.

For example, you could give managers the authority to say no to good ideas that don’t reach the status of being great ideas. This way you prevent the good from becoming the enemy of the great while also reducing the level of complexity in new initiatives in your firm. 

You could also go on audits or simplification sprints, companies like Amazon are famous for these because they allow them to strip away everything that’s not essential to the customer experience. If you can provide leaders with specific training on complexity creep in their departments. This is also useful. Once they understand what they’re fighting, they’re better able to push back against it. 

Break monoliths into coupled systems

Monolithic systems are the main challenge in your business. Things that are enormous in scale and scope are hard to adjust and don’t offer the level of flexibility that you often require to succeed. 

The replacement should be loosely coupled systems. If you can develop modular architecture in your company or microservices, then this allows different parts of the machine to operate independently from one another. Simple processes that are cordoned off from the main firm can become wildly successful over time. 

In fact, big tech giants like Google and Microsoft know this. Throughout their history they’ve pinched off smaller start-ups away from the rules and bureaucracy of the main organisation. These have often wound up being highly successful and sometimes becoming the main revenue generator for the firm. 

Reduce organizational layers

A simpler approach may just be to reduce the number of organisational layers in your organisation. Hierarchies can become very complicated and involved over time, especially when staff themselves are deciding on the shape of the internal organisational structure. You can reduce this issue by flattening hierarchies. You might just have a few executives at the top, then middle managers, and then everybody else.

Also think about your governance creep. Sometimes the desire to control everything that happens in the firm can be counter-productive. Therefore, many companies find that they actually benefit from limiting the number of governance bodies or secondary approvals that are required for projects. Sometimes the best approach is to simply trust the people you already have to do the right job. 

Outsource your visas

If you need business visas for incoming staff, always use a third-party to arrange it for you. Don’t try to do this type of work yourself. It’s complicated and frustrating, and if you make a mistake, you often have to go back to the drawing board. Once you outsource services like this, it de-complexifies your business. It reduces the number of tasks that administrators have to complete every year, cutting down on the diversity of their roles and allowing them to focus on their core functions. 

Check your app portfolio

Another thing you’ll want to do is check your app portfolio. If you have too many pieces of software at your enterprise, it can cause confusion and lead to lower staff productivity. You could also run into problems like overlapping systems and duplicate tools, which cost you money but don’t provide any additional advantage. 

Our advice is to retire your unused software and consolidate vendors. If you can integrate more of your services in a way that specifically meets the needs of your workflow, then you’re in a much better position. 

Eliminate stupid rules

Finally, you can often decomplexify your business by eliminating stupid and nonsense rules. Many organizations get themselves into low-value activities or simply pure time wasters. Therefore, check things like your approval chains for expense reports and your small purchases. Get rid of pointless meetings and eliminate the production of reports that nobody actually reads.

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