I recently reviewed several corporate overview presentations and pitch decks, and I have come to believe there are two types of CEOs: Complicators and Simplifiers. Complicators attempt to dazzle us with their brilliance by making everything seem so complicated that they are the only ones that can understand it, and we are fortunate to have them. Then there are the Simplifiers who can take a complex topic and make it so clear anyone can grasp it. Simplifiers are among the most important people in our companies, and having a Simplifier as the CEO is gold.
Simon Sinek recently wrote that “Visionaries aren't the only ones who have big ideas. Visionaries are the ones who can clearly communicate their big ideas to others.” These are the Simplifiers. I used to work with a VP of Engineering who had a PhD on his staff. The PhD had invented a wildly complex data management algorithm, but he had a very difficult time explaining it. The VP was the only person who understood what the PhD was saying and could interpret it for others to act upon. It is no surprise that the VP was the person in the leadership role and the PhD was relegated to a staff position (which he was happy with).
Simplifiers are great communicators, and great communicators make great leaders. They know how to read their audience and understand how to gauge the depth of the discussion so that everyone can grasp the content. I teach a seminar on Active Listening, and one of the concepts for a presenter is to “swim with a snorkel, not a scuba tank.” The goal is not to dive so deep that they ‘drown’ the audience — come up for air every now and then, and make sure the audience is still with you.
Great marketers tend to be Simplifiers. Think about how they can create a memorable tagline that captures the depth and breadth of a business in a simple message. Defining a company’s unique value proposition is an exercise in simplifying all of the things a company does into the one thing that really matters. Great marketing is not throwing everything against the wall and hoping something sticks, or as a colleague used to say “spray and pray marketing.” Great marketing is simplifying the message into something the target audience will recognize and appreciate.
Complicators, on the other hand, feel the need to highlight every detail, and point out every nuance. There is very little black and white for a Complicator, only myriad shades of gray. In meetings, the Complicator typically takes the role of SPITR —Smartest Person In The Room. They are the ones that ask the esoteric questions that have little relevance to the real world. In the classic Monty Python movie, when asked the speed of a swallow in flight, the SPITR responds by asking if it is an African swallow or a European swallow. The typical reaction from others is ‘who cares?’
When the CEO is a Complicator, things often go south. Most board members have a limited amount of time to devote to the inner details of the business. They need the CEO to be clear and concise, and help them focus on the right topics without being distracted or dragged down any rabbit holes. Complicators tend to confuse their audience with a blizzard of details that obfuscate the important kernels of information. When presented with a possible direction by a board member, a Complicator CEO will make it clear that the suggestion is too simplistic, and respond with all of the nuances, alternatives, and potential pitfalls. They dive deep, and their audience drowns. Typically, the result is to shut down the discussion or table the topic, rather than reach a conclusion.
All of this is not to say that deep thought and analysis are bad. Critical thinking and exploring alternatives is necessary and important. Being a Simplifier does not mean there is a lack of depth of understanding, quite the contrary. Do not confuse a Simplifier with being superficial. Simplifying combines understanding with the skill to craft a concise, clear, and simple message. There is a famous line attributed to a lot of people (the actual origin is probably Blais Pascal, and it was in French): “I made this letter so long only because I didn’t have the time to make it shorter” It captures the essence of the skill. It takes hard work to Simplify and get it right. The Complicator is the one that writes the longer note, because they lack the skill or the desire to Simplify. Simplifiers take the time to polish their message into a gem — they are the great communicators.