Keeping it Simple

My father was never bashful about sharing his wisdom with my siblings and me. One of his go-to lines was, “It is not important to do well that which you should not be doing in the first place,” which got me thinking about the principle of simplicity in agile. I guess my father was an agilist at heart!

We, as leaders, so often keep adding more and more to our plates and the plates of others. The principle of simplicity calls us to maximize work not done. When did you last go through your regular to-do’s and ask yourself if this task added value? Or, for those in your care, when was the last time you looked at what your team members were doing, asking the same question?

Today, my challenge to each of us is to see if you can simply stop doing something in your work because it’s no longer valuable. Bonus points if you can do this to help someone else. How did that feel? How do you think the other person felt?

I would love to hear your stories about how you intentionally applied the principle of simplicity to your work or life.

Copyright © 2018 – 2026 Michaele Gardner and Brian Hackerson