Recently I overheard a semi-professional cyclist say to a group of other cyclists:
“Once you get fancy, fancy gets broken”
He was referencing the gear on his bike — the fancier it gets (the more complex, the more features, the more intricate, the more tech) it tends to break more often and in ways which are harder to deal with/repair.
What is true for his gear is, I believe, equally true for your company, your processes and your product. Most of us have a tendency to add to things — we add features, we add complexities, we add steps. All well intended — aiming for more, better, faster.
Yet in reality we tend to just make our stuff break. Features our users don’t understand, code which is buggy, processes which are convoluted, systems which become increasingly complex.
Resist the urge to get fancy. Stay simple and clean. Less is often more.
As famed Braun designer Dieter Rams said: Less but better.