“ We never ever do nice and easy” - Blair McPherson

 In the  intro to the live version of Proud Mary, Tina Turner says, “ We never ever do nice and easy” she was talking about the energy they put into their performance but if you know anything about her troubled and violent marriage you might read more into these words. Like wise the apparent decision to avoid “nice and easy” might describe the way many organisations operate. As the Guru said,” Why do people insist on climbing through the window when the door is open?”

The implication is there is a simple and straightforward way to achieve your organisations objectives. If you could but recognise it. Is the obvious solution often the best solution? Do we make things unnecessarily complicated? NASA reportedly spent £Millions developing a pen that would write in zero gravity. The Russian astronauts just used a pencil. So having lots of creative and intelligent people plus a big budget will not necessarily be the answer. 

They say a camel is a horse designed by a committee. The implication being the more people involved the more likely the end product is a compromise and over complicated. They say necessity is the mother of invention which may explain the more pragmatic approach by the Russian space scientists. 

Although when it comes to changes in working practices it seems obvious that success is more likely if you involve those who will be expected to make it work. 

Clearly finding simple solutions is much harder than it sounds. First you have to recognise a door when you see it. 

Blair Mcpherson former director author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk