Every Addition Requires an Equal Commitment to Removal
Organizations are remarkably good at adding complexity. They’re far less disciplined at removing it.
Every initiative introduces something new — a report, a process, an approval, an integration, an exception. Each addition is justified. Almost none are ever retired.
The result isn’t a single bad decision. It’s hundreds of reasonable ones that quietly make the organization slower, heavier, and harder to change.
Complexity doesn’t disappear when growth slows. It compounds until leaders deliberately remove it.
Why subtraction is one of the most overlooked leadership disciplines — and why complexity never retires itself.
https://primamachina.substack.com/p/complexity-never-retires-itself