Your systems were built to create clarity, but now they are a source of chaos. Here’s how to find the simplicity on the other side of complexity.
Like always, it started with a simple spreadsheet. Then you added a few formulas, some automation, and a new piece of software. Now, you look at your core business processes and see a tangled bowl of spaghetti. It’s a complex, interconnected mess that only one or two people in the company really understand how to navigate.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. This is a natural byproduct of growth, especially in a visionary-led company that values speed above all else. You build things quickly to solve immediate problems. However, over time, those quick fixes can become a frustrating knot of inefficiency.
I know this trap intimately because I’ve set it for myself more times than I can count. Anyone who has ever worked with me knows that I love a good spreadsheet. For me, creating a beautiful spreadsheet with all the bells and whistles is like solving a puzzle; my hyperfixation kicks in, and I can spend hours building the “perfect” tool. But that perfection comes at a price. The spreadsheet often has more features than it needs, which adds to the complication and, eventually, the abandonment of the very tool I worked so hard on.
The path back to clarity requires embracing a simple but powerful maxim: “Simplicity is on the other side of complexity.”
Often, you have to go through a complex building phase to truly understand what is essential. This article is your guide to unraveling that spaghetti. We will walk through a simple framework to audit, simplify, and refine your business systems so they can deliver on their original promise: to create freedom, not frustration.
Why Simple Systems Win (And Complicated Ones Fail)
Simple systems get used; complicated systems get ignored. A system that lives in one person’s head is not a system at all. It is a critical business liability.
This isn’t just a matter of preference. As a Harvard Business Review article on the topic notes, managers often “vastly underestimate the costs of complexity.” These costs show up as team frustration, wasted time, and stalled projects. Complexity is the enemy of delegation and empowerment. If your team does not understand a process, they cannot own it, and you get pulled right back into the “Fixer’s Trap.”
For an ADHD wired team or leader, complexity is a brick wall. Simple, visual, and intuitive processes are the only ones that will be followed consistently.
The ANCHOR Framework™: Your 5-Step Method for Business Process Simplification
So how do you get from a tangled mess into a streamlined process? You need a clear, repeatable framework. I call it The ANCHOR Framework™. It’s a five-step journey that will guide you from understanding the problem to creating a simple solution that your team will actually use.
Assess the Current State
Narrow the Focus
Create the Simple Path
Hand-off with an SOP
Observe &
Reiterate
Step 1: Assess the Current State
Before you ever touch a whiteboard, the first step is to get crystal clear on the current reality of your process. This involves two parts: listening to your people and visualizing the process.
First, talk to the key stakeholders—the people who are living in the process every day. Ask them to identify what’s working and what’s not:
- What are the most significant benefits of the way we currently do this?
- What are the biggest frustrations or pitfalls in this process?
Once you have that qualitative feedback, gather some quantitative data to set your baseline. How long does this process currently take from start to finish? How many errors does it produce per month? What is its current cost in terms of time or resources?
Now, it’s time to map the mess. Bring the key players together for a “get it all on the table” mapping session. Your goal is to map out every single step, decision point, and tool involved in the current process. Don’t try to fix anything yet. Just get an honest, visual representation of the spaghetti as it exists today.
Pro Tip: When you’re mapping the process, bring in someone from outside the team who uses the system. When you are forced to explain the process to an outsider, you’ll quickly see where the logic breaks down and where the hidden complexities lie.
Step 2: Narrow the Focus
With the full, messy process mapped out, you now need to define what “success” looks like. The goal isn’t just to make the process “better”; it’s to make it achieve a specific, essential outcome.
To narrow your focus, ask your team the single most important simplification question:
“What is the absolute essential outcome of this process?”
As Stephen Covey famously said, “Start with the end in mind.”
By getting everyone aligned on the single, non-negotiable goal, you create the clarity needed to cut through the noise and eliminate any steps that don’t directly serve that primary purpose.
With that baseline established, you can now set a clear and specific goal. Your goal isn’t just to “make the process better.” A great goal sounds like, “We want to reduce the time it takes to onboard a new client from 10 hours to 4 hours,” or “We want to decrease the error rate in our invoicing process by 50%.”
Step 3: Create the Simple Path
Now that you know your destination, you can find the most direct route – the straightest piece of spaghetti, if you will. Look at your process map and ask the second key simplification question:
- “What is the absolute simplest, most direct path to that outcome?”
This is where you challenge every step. Can a step be eliminated? Can it be automated? To do this effectively, leverage your team’s diverse perspectives by forming a small, cross-functional group to review the map. Be on the lookout for automation opportunities; this is one of the fastest ways to increase efficiency.
This is where you refine your Minimum Viable System (MVS). The first version you built was about speed. This new version is about elegance and efficiency.
Pro Tip: Bring that same “outsider” back and have them explain the new system. It should be easy enough to follow that anyone familiar with the outcome can see how it works. If not, they may see a simpler solution that you may have overlooked.
Step 4: Hand-off with an SOP
Once you have the new, simplified process, you must document it so it can be effectively handed off. A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) does not need to be a 20-page manual that no one will ever read.
I highly recommend shooting a short Loom or Zoom video where you share your screen and simply walk through the new process. Organize these simple video SOPs in a shared folder system (such as Google Drive or Notion) that is logically named and easy for anyone to find.
Step 5: Observe & Reiterate
No new process is ever perfect on the first try. The final, crucial step is to roll out your new, simplified system and actively ask for feedback.
Let your team know that the new process isn’t set in stone. Schedule a check-in for 30 days after you launch it. Ask them: “What’s working? What’s still clunky? What’s one small thing we could do to make this 10% better?” Fostering an environment where your team feels empowered to deliver honest feedback is how you turn a good system into a great one.
Making Time for Simplicity
This five-step process is powerful, but it won’t happen by accident. You have to be intentional and make time for it. This is “working ON the business,” and it’s some of the most valuable work you can do.
Consider making this a recurring “Process Improvement” block on the calendar. Maybe it’s a monthly 90-minute meeting where you tackle one problematic system. Or it’s a quarterly deep dive. Whatever the rhythm, protect that time.
The challenge here may be convincing your CEO to allocate the time to do the work. Often, from their perspective, it is working, regardless of how complicated the process may seem in the backend, and that is all that matters.
Remember: Simplicity isn’t the opposite of speed; it’s the enabler of sustainable speed. You know the cost these inefficiencies are having on your team and productivity – have the conversation and make the time.
Conclusion: The Freedom of Simplicity
The journey to simplicity is not about avoiding complexity, but about moving through it with intention. It is a process of embracing the initial mess, untangling it with care, and refining it with a relentless focus on the essential.By doing this, you will find the elegant clarity that lies on the other side of complexity. This is how you build a business that is not just effective, but resilient. This is how you build an Anchored company, creating the operational stability required to scale with confidence.
Until next time – Stay Anchored and Keep Growing!
Ready to Untangle Your Spaghetti and Get Help With Your Business Process Simplification?
If you’re looking at your own bowl of process spaghetti and feeling overwhelmed, you don’t have to unravel it alone. My 1-on-1 coaching program is designed to give you the expert guidance and personalized framework to simplify your operations and build a truly scalable business.
