Choosing Simplicity in Career and Life
- Dipankar Kaul
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
I often observe how people — intelligent, capable, and ambitious professionals — end up complexifying their lives. It happens subtly: in the choices they make, the careers they chase, and the standards they set for themselves. Yet, if you strip it all down, life is not demanding or overly complex. It is our misunderstanding of ourselves, inflated expectations, extraordinary desires, and the weight of social pressure that create unnecessary complications.
How We Complexify Life
We convince ourselves that success must be difficult, layered, and exhausting. We create a maze of goals, titles, and comparisons, forgetting that much of what matters is straightforward. Happiness, growth, and balance don’t need to be wrapped in conditions — they need clarity and honesty.
This tendency spills into our professional lives. I often see managers bury themselves in jargon and frameworks. Meetings are filled with buzzwords: “synergy,” “paradigm shift,” “holistic optimization.” But when you cut through the vocabulary, the essence is often simple: communicate clearly, treat people with respect, solve problems with common sense.
The Trap of Jargon and Complexity
Why do we do this? Because complexity gives the illusion of depth. Using heavy frameworks or difficult language makes us feel we are adding value. But in truth, we may be masking a lack of clarity.
Think about it: is motivating a team really about elaborate leadership theories? Or is it about listening, recognizing effort, and showing fairness? Is decision-making about endless reports and slides, or about gathering the right facts, applying judgment, and acting decisively?
We over engineer, and in doing so, we exhaust ourselves.
The Power of Simplicity
The best leaders I’ve seen practice simplicity with discipline. They don’t get lost in noise; they cut through it. They:
Ask direct questions instead of decorating them with jargon.
Focus on essentials rather than chasing every shiny opportunity.
Make decisions by applying common sense, not by overcomplicating processes.
Remind their teams that clarity is not laziness, it is wisdom.
Simplicity in leadership is not about doing less; it’s about removing distractions so you can focus on what truly matters.
Why This Matters for Mid-Managers
If you are in mid-management, this is particularly important. You are sandwiched between strategy and execution, and complexity can easily overwhelm you. But by choosing simplicity:
You make better, faster decisions.
You reduce stress for yourself and your team.
You build trust, because people value clarity over confusion.
You free up energy for innovation instead of firefighting.
Closing Reflection
Life — and leadership — is not meant to be a puzzle we struggle to solve. It is meant to be lived and led with clarity, courage, and common sense. The more we simplify our expectations, decisions, and interactions, the more meaningful and effective they become.
Complexity is often a choice. Simplicity is also a choice. And the latter, in my view, is the wiser path.
💡 Do you see complexity in your workplace as a necessity, or do you believe — like I do — that most of it can be untangled by returning to common sense?
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