Axios C-Suite: Juice your productivity with Simplify
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Three years ago, we made the riskiest — but best — business decision since founding Axios in 2017. Nagged by an unshakable feeling that we were hiring too many people to do too many things, we decided to radically simplify things.
- We confronted business lines we liked — paid policy verticals to sports coverage — and decided to kill anything we didn't confidently know we could be best at in media. We then ruthlessly trimmed the number of people, layers and decisions needed to achieve this.
Why it matters: The results were eye-popping. Almost instantly, we were doing a lot more with a lot less — and employees now seem happier than ever. Our revenue per employee surged 75%.
📖 Why this matters to YOU: We were so moved by the system we developed to do this that Mike, Roy and I quickly banged out a new book to share it, much like we did with our "Smart Brevity" writing style.
- It's called "Simplify: Do 50% More with 50% Less." The book comes out on Sept. 15.
Most of the book focuses on business and applying this system and mindset to every layer of a company, starting with CEOs and leaders.
- It draws on deep research and lessons from other CEOs, including Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and AT&T's John Stankey, who coined a great term for all of us to steal: "Stop 'til they squaw."
- Stankey was talking about killing all the dumb stuff we do out of inertia or institutional habit. His best you-can't-make-it-up example: AT&T had 8,000 different policy proclamations — not a typo – and he couldn't name more than a few. He blames "The Borg," the colossus we create, larded with bureaucratic barnacles.
🙏 The holy grail: Nirvana is simplifying the work you do and how you do it — and simplifying how it's communicated internally and externally.
The bottom line: Microsoft estimates the average person pisses away 25% of their workweek on stuff they shouldn't be doing.
- Imagine using that time for stuff that makes workers, managers and CEOs more productive and more satisfied. That is the purpose of this book.
The Simplify system
We walk everyone at every level through how to create the habit and system to Simplify using three motions: Confront, Delete, Amplify.
- Confront what you do AND why.
- Delete every action, step or process possible.
- Amplify what you do uniquely well that drives the most value.
This all may seem simple enough — but how many of your employees do you think ever actually do this?
We do it at Axios with three quick questions, all requiring a hierarchical ranking:
- What do you do that you think drives the most value?
- What do you do that you think is dumb, better not done or could be done by someone else?
- What do you do that could be automated?
We then Simplify, making sure the manager and manager's manager sign off.
- The book walks you through how to do this from mission and CEO-level work down to the rank-and-file.
✨ Voilà! Instant alignment.
Simplify your voice and direction
I heard a lot in response to my item about society hitting "post-processable velocity," the point where capabilities move too fast for any organization or individual to keep up with.
- So let me show you how Simplify can help solve a specific issue: sharper, smarter comms.
Let's use the how-our-company-is-using-AI example, since we all face it.
- First, write down the top three ways you're using and implementing AI this month. (I think monthly-at-most alignment on comms is vital; weekly is best).
- As a general rule, put the projects in order of importance, using strong words — and as few of them as possible. This is the only way to get people to truly remember anything. That's Simplifying comms.
I'll use Axios as an example — ours are specific, clear, concise:
- Build and power our local supersystem.
- Complete a more agile CMS.
- Automate repetitive tasks with the highest ROI.
Next, ask each member of your leadership team to take these and make their list for their team similarly short and specific.
- By the time you get to the rank-and-file, their list should align with their bosses, their bosses with their bosses — all the way up to you. That's Simplifying alignment.
The end product is simple, too: Cascading alignment on the most vital work with a written trail.
👀 In the book, Goldman Sachs' Tony Fratto reveals how he freed up 500 HOURS by Simplifying.
Go deeper with Simplify
I'm excited for you to come along on our Simplify journey later this month.
Why now? AI is the greatest complexity-generation machine ever invented. It mass-produces drafts, dashboards and action items, adding to the noise and distraction that engulf us.
- Stunning stat: Research shows we spend two hours cleaning up each incident of AI-perpetrated workslop.
The bottom line: Simplify will give you more time for what matters.
- Preorder here.
- If you want to put these ideas to work across your company, we're offering private Simplify briefings for teams that preorder books in bulk. Reach out to [email protected].
📈 If you're a CEO or on a CEO's team: Ask to join Jim's new weekly Axios C-Suite newsletter.
