Finding Elegance in Simplicity

I used to believe that complexity was a proxy for value.

If I had eleven proprietary frameworks, surely that meant I had eleven times the wisdom to offer.

I was wrong.

Yesterday, I looked at my “Narrative Intelligence Studio” and realized I had built a labyrinth, not a path. I had eleven distinct tools, eleven different ways to say, “Here is how you find your voice.”

In a BANI world (brittle, anxious, nonlinear, and incomprehensible), leaders do not need more complexity. They need clarity.

• This was the moment the fog lifted.
• I sat down with the intention of a sculptor.
• I needed to remove everything that wasn’t the essence.
• I looked at the sprawling map of my services and asked a simple systems thinking question
• Does this structure generate the behavior I want for my clients?

The answer was no. The structure generated overwhelm.

So, I began to subtract. I consolidated. I aligned.

What emerged from the chaos was not a reduction of value, but a distillation of it.

I call it the ALEC process.

It is a unified narrative arc that moves from the past, through the present, and into the future:

1. Archeology: Excavating the “why” and the history.
2. Lens: Clarifying the worldview and perspective.
3. Engine: Building the systems for consistent output.
4. Compass: Ensuring directional alignment for the future.

Suddenly, the eleven fragmented tools found their home. They weren’t discarded; they were organized.

The result is peace.

When the structure is sound, the energy flows.

We stop “doing” the maintenance of complex systems and start “becoming” the leaders we are meant to be.

Simplicity is not the starting point. It is the destination.

Ubuntu! ❤️ 🌵