‘I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free’ Michelangelo
A beautiful description of our job as strategists. Because, in one way or another, we are always looking for our own angels – ideas, and carving to set them free. To carve means to remove complexity, and that’s always one of the goals of strategy. Whether it’s a new brand architecture solution, a new brand positioning or a 5 page sell in deck: it all needs to be as simple as possible.
We’re always carving. Because complexity is ever-present. An endless emission of the corporate, commercial machine. An inevitable byproduct of complex ecosystems of decisions, interests and incentives. But we can’t wish this complexity away. So let’s call it out. And face it head on. As a specific challenge, as a feature of the operational environment. We need to fight complexity. We need to carve.
How?
Search for the simple. Artist and teacher, Hans Hoffman, provided our favourite definition of simplification, saying ‘The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary, so that the necessary may speak.’ Therefore, to carve, we must know what’s necessary and what’s not.
Meaning we need clear answers to the fundamental briefing questions, ‘Who is it for?’ and ‘What does it have to do for them?’ The clearer our answers, the sharper our carving. Because afterwards, only what‘s necessary to our user is left. When we haven’t clearly defined our audience’s requirements, we get it wrong – removing too much, or too little.
‘To carve, we must know what’s necessary and what’s not.’
Removing too much leads to simplistic, reductive or stupid outputs – ideas that don’t capture all the necessary requirements. A commercially clueless strategy. A shallow and 2D brand personality. Or a story that fails to engage emotionally. The angel might sparkle brightly and fizz with energy, but its flight is short, stopped when it collides with reality.
On the other hand, if we take away too little, unnecessary complexity pulls the angel back into the solid unmovable mass of the marble. The idea doesn’t fly: it’s not understood, remembered, liked or shared.
Carving is hard. Constantly confronting the question ‘Is this necessary?’ is a brutal discipline. It demands an iron grip of the brief’s needs. Many darlings die. And we need confidence to expose our angel for all to see, without a single fig leaf of complexity to hide behind.
But, no matter how skilled and dedicated the sculptors, their angels won’t survive for long unless they are born into a culture obsessed with simple. Everyone from the top-down needs to commit to the cause and align on what, why and how to simplify. Leadership must recognise that simple doesn’t just happen and that complexity is actually too easy; indeed, it’s the default. Complexity is endemic. We must equip everyone to fight with a ‘simple stick’. Let’s exorcise the monster of complexity and give our angels a chance to fly further.
Written by Hugh and Jamie.
