Complex Simplicity

When you are developing your skills, your focus is on complexity. There is good reason for this.

During your apprenticeship, which I believe is your first seven to ten years of experience, it is imperative that you understand technical detail and how to execute complex procedures.

You must establish the ability to carry out a series of steps, in the exact order to produce a predictable and satisfactory result.

Complexity and technical proficiency is the key.

But that's your first life on the business journey.

In your second life on the business journey, you must shift to complex simplicity.

I like to think of an analogue clock. Over a day, the clock's hands move around the face twice.

Think of the first time you move around the clock from 1 o'clock to 12 o'clock as your apprenticeship on the business journey.

The first time around the clock you've never seen 1 o'clock or 2 o'clock. These times represent a progression on your business journey.

Each hour represents lessons and achievements throughout your apprenticeship. Having never been around the clock face, each hour represents a new destination.

Time moves slowly the first time around the clock face as lessons and experiences are gained. Each hour the hand moves represents an important incremental step in your technical development and experiential environment.

You make mistakes. You learn. You make mistakes. You learn.

You fall over. You get up.

 The evolutionary process of your first stage development continues.

 You learn the complex. And you have to.

 If you don't learn the complexity of your craft during your apprenticeship, you never will.

These years from 1am through to 12 midday on your first journey around the clock build your technical chops. You are recognized and promoted for your technical ability.

 You become competent and experienced at complexity.

 Over your apprenticeship, you have come to understand complexity through a range of experiences resulting in a high level of technical competency.

 But now it's midday. You've been around the clock face. You understand complexity within your field.

 So now you begin your second rotation around the clock face from 12 midday to midnight.

 But now you must pivot. Change.

You must now adopt Complex Simplicity. 

On your second time around the clock, it's now time to leverage your experience and knowledge of the complex technical aspects of your vocation.

As a master, you must adopt complex simplicity.

Complex simplicity is the art of making the complex simple.

It is the ability to go from A to Z in one step. From the question to the answer in one step.

And you don't know how you can do it. You just can.

In this second time around the clock, you simplify everything.

Focus on a philosophy of simplicity.

Everything on just one page.

Meetings with standard agendas run smoothly and effectively - in a minimum amount of time.

Systems are reliable and quicker.

Interactions with your team lead to greater productivity, employee and customer satisfaction.

You only focus on the key metrics that matter. Just drive those and nothing else.

Your diary is less busy and openings allow more opportunity into your life.

You have a regime of nominated 'non-negotiable activities' that you respect and honor.

Beyond them, your time is yours.

You solve employee, customer, supplier and shareholder problems quickly and effectively.

You have complex simplicity.

Everything is faster.

And simpler.

More effortless.

It's not that you cease understanding or attending to the complex and technical aspects of your business. It's just that you've been around the clock the first time.

You've served your apprenticeship and know your technical stuff.

It is the adoption of a philosophy through experience that makes the complex simple.

I encourage you to review your activities through the principle of complex simplicity.

Think how you can make every activity simpler, more effective and more enjoyable.

Simplification doesn't mean you're dumb on the second time around the clock.

It means you're smart.

Real smart.

Maybe even a master.

Times ticking.

Midnight is just a few hours away.

Time is of the essence.

Adopt complex simplicity.

---

I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke

A little bit about me

If you’ve found my blog here on my website, the chances are that by now you’ll know I’ve written a book called The Fourth Moon. It’s a narrative-driven book that provides a practical, step-by-step guide to achieving sustainable success that any business can follow. It uses a powerful metaphor based on famous Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei – and his discovery of the four moons of Jupiter – and challenges business owners and teams to adopt a fresh approach by viewing their business through a new lens.

What you may not yet know is how I identified and honed the principles of success that I draw on in The Fourth Moon, which is why I thought I’d use this blog to tell you a little bit about my own personal entrepreneurial journey. 

My first foray into the world of entrepreneurship came when I was six-years-old. There was an orchard in my neighbourhood and the owner paid me for gathering windfall apples - a fixed price for each fruit crate filled. I quickly developed a taste for commerce and lawn mowing, car washing and can recycling businesses followed - each venture playing its own special part in setting me on a pathway that would ultimately see me coaching and mentoring entrepreneurs to business success.

Having earned my Bachelor of Commerce degree at Melbourne University and a post-graduate Chartered Accountant qualification, my introduction to the corporate world came first as an accountant with major international accountancy firm Deloitte, then later as a Business Services Manager with leading firm Pitcher Partners.

I honed my business skills for a decade as an accountant working with publicly listed and private companies before leaving the world of accounting to pursue my dream of running my own business – embarking on my personal journey to The Fourth Moon if you will.

I entered a partnership in start-up Melbourne-based recruitment agency, Caden Consulting, and our fanatical focus on best-practice operating systems and exceptional customer service earned us one of Seek’s Australian Recruitment Agency of the Year Awards in 2003 and saw us featured in Business Review Weekly (BRW Magazine).

That same year I enjoyed my first taste of the publishing world, writing articles for Better Business Magazine, Chartered Magazine, and my first forays into the media arena as an interviewee on audio business programs for Michael Schildberger’s Business Essentials.

In 2003 I sold my share of Caden to my business partner and embarked on my next journey; establishing Business Influence, a consultancy dedicated to dramatically improving the performance of small and medium businesses through consulting, coaching & mentoring.

My coaching and mentoring was based on four tried and tested universal elements of business success — Strategy, Implementation, Maintenance, and Leverage. My passion lies is helping clients develop clear strategic direction, improve productivity, build leading teams, significantly increase profit and business value; all while enhancing the work-life balance of the entrepreneurs behind those businesses.

With twenty-five years’ experience successfully navigating my own personal journey to success, I have a keen eye for identifying what makes successful entrepreneurs and businesses tick, a passion for work-life balance, and a keen desire to share this elusive formula with other business owners which is where my book, The Fourth Moon, comes in.

---

I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke

Turn off Pause and press Play on Implementation

In Part 2 of this Four-Part Series on Sustainable Success, I introduce the Second Moon of Implementation - Europa. 

Following your initial journey to the First Moon, which is often euphoric and motivating, you and your team might think ‘what’s next?’ You’ve been brave and daring in developing a new strategy for the business and understandably feel quite proud of yourself. 

In my book, The Fourth Moon, I talk about Europa, the Second Moon of Jupiter, being the smoothest object in our solar system. It is thought to have twice the water volume of earth so it also very fluid. 

Implementation must be smooth and fluid.

Smooth, because something is not implemented until all the kinks are ironed out. For your strategy to be smooth, it must be implemented correctly.

Fluid because your strategy won’t necessarily be implemented correctly the first time, or even the second time. Fluid thinking allows you to accept initial failure and be fluid in your commitment to return to implementing a technique or discipline again until it ‘sticks’. 

So Second Moon thinking is about being smooth and fluid – it’s all about doing. Actions talk. 

“By denying scientific principles, one may maintain any paradox.”
Galileo Galilee

I often talk about the phrase “knowing isn’t doing”. People respond to advice around their business with “I know that” or “Yes, we’ve heard about that.” But knowing about something is completely useless if you don’t do it.

Examples of “knowing isn’t doing” are endless. We know that we need to do our staff reviews but we don’t always do them. We know that we must implement and attend our internal meetings but we allow these to be cancelled or not run properly. We know about workplace discrimination but don’t follow our policies. We know about back-up procedures around our computer systems, yet fail to attend to these systematically and consistently.

You will fall over from time to time on the Second Moon, and implementation will not always stick the first go. When things inevitably don’t work the first time, you and your team will be tempted to claim that the new techniques and disciplines don’t work and that you should return to your old ways. Don’t allow yourself to fall for this trap. It is a rookie mistake and one repeated by businesses that never achieve success through their own stubbornness and inability to embrace change. 

My challenge to you is to ‘turn off pause and press play’ in regard to Implementation. Implementers win!

If you haven’t signed up for your free Giveaways that include videos on Implementation, sign up in the top right hand corner here www.darrenkbourke.com and you can log in (orange Login button) to access them under “My Content”.

Next is Part 3 of this Four-Part Series in which I will introduce the Third Moon of Ganymede where you will ultimately Maintain your strategy. 

---

I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke

Sit Sit Sit, Walk Walk, Don't Wobble

There are variations on this ancient Zen proverb, but they all mean the same thing.

If you are going to sit, sit and do nothing else.

If you are going to walk, walk and do nothing else.

But whatever you do, don’t wobble.

What does this mean?

The Zen Masters could only have imagined how crazy we would be in the future multi-tasking and checking-out from being in the moment.

While I’m not into tattoos, it might be useful to have this tattooed on the back of our hands to remind us to focus on a single activity.

We speak to people while checking our email.

We look at our laptop when people are talking in meetings.

We check social media during a meal.

We jump in and out of various platforms while writing that important report.

Are we missing out on the richness of life experience?

Are we short-changing our skills and ultimate success through a lack of absolute focus?

Do we have depth and meaning to our relationships as a result of concentrating on the person we are currently with and nothing else?

The busyness of modern life and the 24/7 world around us has hijacked our ability to focus.

The pressure to attend to more tasks in less time has created a generation of zombie multi-taskers who have lost the ability to just sit.

Or just walk.

So we wobble.

And wobbling is neither sitting nor walking.

And achieves no beneficial purpose.

Imagine how much your performance would increase if you were to focus 100% intently on one activity.

Imagine how your relationship with your partner or family would deepen if you were to engage in focused conversation with them.

Imagine how your business relationships would flourish if you engaged people holistically offering your full attention and good grace.

Imagine how amazing you could be at your most important work when undistracted and focused like a Zen Master.

Let’s all make a commitment to adopting focus in our busy lives.

Set some rules for yourself in being in the moment and conducting one activity purely and exactly.

You might see some big things from this one little change.

---

I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke

How 'Strong Opinions Loosely Held'​ Can Improve Your Management Meetings

I heard a great quote on a recent podcast from highly successful tech entrepreneur Marc Andreessen.

The position Marc adopts in meetings and discussions is to have ‘strong opinions loosely held’.

The idea is to hold very strong opinions that you argue about passionately until someone else presents a counter-argument or perspective that forces you to reassess or even change your opinion.

A willingness to hold your strong opinion loosely allows you to change your opinion when a better one is presented.

This may seem counter-intuitive but I think it deserves greater scrutiny.

‘Strong opinions strongly held’ would appear to be the default position adopted by business owners.

But here’s Marc’s take.

Hold an opinion and table it…..strongly.

When an audience presents a stronger argument, many business owners adopt a combative stance to defend their opinion.

The thought of surrendering their idea risks a prick to their professional ego. They fear looking weak or dumb in changing their view.

Marc suggest you only hold on to your opinion weakly, so that when a better opinion or perspective is presented, you simply let go of your opinion and adopt a new one.

A better one.

Or maybe the right one.

And here’s the safety net.

If you are not presented with a different perspective, a better argument or new facts – hold on to your strong opinion.

You don’t have to let it go if nothing better is presented as an alternative.

Marc and his business partner Ben Horowitz role play arguing the opposite opinion every time they review a business concept or investment opportunity. They stay in character and have fierce animated debates (some would say heated arguments) until one of them either gives up or changes their opinion.

This is a great tactic to instill and adopt within your management team. 

Trial it for a month and see if this leads to better decisions.

Darren

---

I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke