U.S. flag
        An official website of the United States government
          Here’s how you know
        Here’s how you know**Official websites use .gov**
              
              A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
        **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
              
              A **lock** (  A locked padlock
) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. https://www.nist.gov/baldrige/simplify-complexity-please
  Search NIST
    Search
              Menu

      


Close
    Topics
        All Topics
                                                        Advanced communications
                                                        Artificial intelligence
                                                        Bioscience
                                                        Buildings and construction
                                                        Chemistry
                                                        Climate
                                                        Cybersecurity
                                                        Electronics
                                                        EnergyEnvironment
                                                        Fire
                                                        Forensic science
                                                        Health
                                                        Information technology
                                                        Infrastructure
                                                        Manufacturing
                                                        Materials
                                                        Mathematics and statisticsMetrology
                                                        Nanotechnology
                                                        Neutron research
                                                        Performance excellence
                                                        Physics
                                                        Public safety
                                                        Resilience
                                                        Standards
                                                        Transportation
            Publications
            Labs & Major Programs
        Laboratories
                                Communications Technology Laboratory
                                  Engineering Laboratory
                                  Information Technology Laboratory
                                  Material Measurement Laboratory
                                  Physical Measurement LaboratoryUser Facilities
                                NIST Center for Neutron Research
                                  CNST NanoFab
                                                        Research Test Beds
                                                        Research Projects
                                                        Tools & InstrumentsMajor Programs
                                Baldrige Performance Excellence Program
                                  CHIPS for America Initiative
                                  Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)
                                  Office of Advanced Manufacturing
                                  Special Programs Office
                                  Technology Partnerships Office
            Services & Resources
        Standards and Measurements
                                Calibration Services
                                  Laboratory Accreditation (NVLAP)
                                  Quality System
                                  Standard Reference Materials (SRMs)
                                  Standards.gov
                                  Time Services
                                  Office of Weights and MeasuresSoftware
                                                        Data
                                Chemistry WebBook
                                  National Vulnerability Database
                                  Physical Reference Data
                                  Standard Reference Data (SRD)
                                                        Storefront
                                                        License & PatentsComputer Security Resource Center (CSRC)
                                                        NIST Research Library
            News & Events
        News
                                                        Events
                                                        Blogs
                                                        Feature Stories
                                                        AwardsVideo Gallery
                                                        Image Gallery
                                                        Media Contacts
            About NIST
        About Us
                                Leadership
                                  Organization Structure
                                  Budget & Planning
                                                        Contact Us
                                                        Visit
                                                        Careers
                                Student programsWork with NIST
                                                        History
                                NIST Digital Archives
                                  NIST Museum
                                  NIST and the Nobel
                                                        Educational Resources
 
 Baldrige Performance Excellence Program
    
      
  How Baldrige Works
                            Expand or Collapse
          About Baldrige
                                              Expand or Collapse
                Baldrige Impacts
                                  History
                                                                Expand or Collapse
                      Malcolm Baldrige Biography
                                              How the Baldrige Program Began
                                  Baldrige Process Integrity
                                  Baldrige FAQs
                      Baldrige Director
                                              Expand or Collapse
                Organization Chart
                      Baldrige Community
                                              Expand or Collapse
                Examiners
                                                                Expand or Collapse
                      Examiner Resources
                                  Board of Overseers
                                  Judges Panel
                                  Executive Fellows
                                  Baldrige Foundation
                                  State & Local Baldrige-Based Programs
                                  Baldrige Ambassadors
                                  Communities of Excellence 2026
                                  International Award Programs
                      News/Media Room
                                              Expand or Collapse
                Researchers
          Self-Assessing
                            Expand or Collapse
          Getting Started
                      Baldrige Key Terms
                      Improvement Tools
                                              Expand or Collapse
                Job Quality Toolkit
                                                                Expand or Collapse
                      Recruitment & Hiring
                                              Benefits
                                              Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Accessibility
                                              Empowerment & Representation
                                              Job Security & Working Conditions
                                              Organizational Culture
                                              Pay
                                              Skills & Career Advancement
                                              Job Quality Baldrige Style
                                  Foundations for a Successful Business
                                  Are We Making Progress?
                                  Are We Making Progress as Leaders?
                                  easyInsight: Take a First Step Toward a Baldrige Self-Assessment
                                  Are You a Role-Model Leader?
                                  Integrating Baldrige with Other Tools
                      Baldrige by Sector
                                              Expand or Collapse
                Manufacturing
                                                                Expand or Collapse
                      Are You Ready to Address Your Business Challenges and Get National Recognition?
                                  Service
                                  Small Business
                                  Education
                                  Health Care
                                  Nonprofit/Government
          Products & Services
                            Expand or Collapse
          Baldrige Cybersecurity Initiative
                      Baldrige Excellence Framework
                      Baldrige Excellence Builder
                      Baldrige Executive Fellows Program
                      Baldrige Connect
                      Become a Baldrige Examiner
                      Baldrige Examiner Training Experience
                      Shop Baldrige Gear
          Publications
                            Expand or Collapse
          Baldrige Excellence Framework
                                              Expand or Collapse
                Business/Nonprofit
                                  Education
                                  Health Care
                                  Baldrige Excellence Framework Graphics
                      Baldrige Case Study
                      Blogrige
                      Insights on the Road to Performance Excellence
          Conferences
                            Expand or Collapse
          Quest for Excellence Conference
                      Baldrige Fall Conference
                      Baldrige Exhibit Schedule
          Award Recipients
                            Expand or Collapse
          Current Baldrige Recipients
                      Name & Trademark Guidelines
          Baldrige Award
                            Expand or Collapse
          Award Criteria
                      How to Apply
                                              Expand or Collapse
                Application Format
                      Award Cycle Overview
                      Is Your Organization Eligible?
                      Award Process Fees



  Connect with us
      
      TwitterGovDeliveryYoutubeSimplify Complexity, Please!

Share
  Facebook
                      Linkedin
                      Twitter
                      Email

Dr. Harry Hertz Photo and the Insights on the Road to Performance Excellence LogoDr. Harry Hertz, Director EmeritusBaldrige Performance Excellence Program
  
      November 2010To simplify complexity is probably the Holy Grail for every organizational leader around the globe. It also is a request I frequently get for the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. Please simplify the Criteria, so they are easier to address. So, with these two challenges in mind, I address simplifying complexity this month for two reasons: (1) we are completing the revisions to the 2011–2012 Criteria, and (2) I recently was reminded of the 2010 IBM CEO Survey results entitled *Capitalizing on Complexity* by the just-released companion report on *Working Beyond Borders*, which presents IBM's 2010 Global Chief Human Resource Officer Survey results. According to the CEO study results, the increasing complexity of businesses' and other organizations' current operating environments calls for senior leaders to *embody creative leadership, reinvent customer relationships, and build operational dexterity*. The study notes that operational dexterity requires agility (a Baldrige core value) and the need to simplify products, services, and customer interactions. To me, the key message is that complexity in a globally competitive marketplace and an uncertain global economy will only increase and that this complexity requires a simplification of operational processes. The ability to execute flexibly and rapidly requires "lean" processes that are clear to the whole workforce and routinely exercised to align with current and anticipated market needs. In other words, *complexity will require systematic strategic thinking (a complex process) and then simplicity in execution*. Simplicity in execution is aided by elegantly simple products, services, and customer interactions.The human resources study also deals with complexity and simplicity. The biggest opportunities identified in this study of 700 organizations across 16 countries were to *cultivate creative leaders, capitalize on collective intelligence, and mobilize for speed and flexibility*. The first two areas, in my opinion, again call for handling complex, strategic processes, and the third area calls for simplicity in operational processes in order to execute them rapidly.The path from complexity to simplicity requires significant analysis. Analysis begins with measurements and data, and it results in key metrics and information. This "simple" concept has been embedded in the Baldrige Criteria for years. Yet it amazes me how many organizations still measure what's easy, rather than what's important; analyze the data; and then don't use the results for decision making because the data are not particularly valuable. In a 2006 book on systems thinking, Jamshid Gharajedaghi talks about the "necessity of reducing endless complexities and the need to produce manageable simplicities." He says this requires a holistic frame of reference and a systems methodology, as well as a focus on relevant issues to prevent drowning in a proliferating amount of useless information. The Baldrige Criteria provide a holistic frame of reference, and they require complex thinking, but I believe they also provide the path to clear identification of relevant issues, followed by identification of key data, and analyses for decision making.Let me share with you some of the changes coming to the Criteria in 2011 that I believe address the concepts shared in this *Insights* column. First, in support of simplicity, each group of questions (the numbered paragraphs in each item) will now have a subhead that summarizes the content. Using the outline formed by the item titles, area to address titles, and these subheads, Criteria users will have a simple guide to performance excellence.We also have strengthened *the line of sight from strategic challenges and advantages to core competencies, to strategy, and then to work systems and work processes*. This clear set of linkages should take an organization from the strategic environment in which it functions to the execution of its operations in a logical sequence. While each of these concepts is complex, the line of sight should simplify execution. Strategy development in our global marketplace will increasingly require some degree of intelligent risk taking, which is introduced as a new consideration in 2011.The role of senior leaders in the reinvention of customer relationships is highlighted by a change in the Criteria related to developing a customer culture in the organization. The responsibility has been moved from the Customer Focus category to the Senior Leadership item. Senior leaders establish the tone for the organization's customer culture, and their focus on relationship building sets the tone for employees' focus on customer relationship building and engagement.The last change I will highlight in this column reflects our further thinking on the role of performance projections. This concept has been moved from a results consideration to a strategic consideration in alignment with key organizational analyses and decision making. Performance projections thus become a component of strategy development and a simple guide to areas in need of innovation.Complexity, I am afraid, is a fact of global life. Handling complexity requires agility and the ability to execute with a sufficient degree of simplicity. So why are the Baldrige Criteria complex? Because achieving organizational sustainability in a global economy is complex. But my hope is that using the Criteria will help you handle complexity and execute with greater agility and simplicity!ResourcesBaldrige Excellence FrameworkBaldrige Excellence BuilderBlogrigeNewsSustainability Is Synonymous with Change (April 2010)Mind Your “P’s” and “Q’s”: Personal Learning at the Quest for Excellence (May 2010)It Is June 2010: Do You Know Where Your Board Is? Are Members Doing Their Homework? (June 2010)Leading at the “Leading Edge of Validated Management Practice” (July 2010)Engaging Employees in Challenging Times (August 2010)September Is Back-to-School Time, and We Can All Learn to Communicate Better (September 2010)What’s in a Name? (October 2010)Archived ColumnsYou need to have Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to view the PDF file. If you do not have Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, download the program at http://get.adobe.com/reader. People with visual disabilities can download tools and information at http://www.adobe.com/accessibility to help make Adobe PDF files accessible.
  Performance excellence, Baldrige award, Baldrige examiners and Baldrige Framework and Criteria

    
    Contacts
      
        

Baldrige Customer Service
  baldrige@nist.gov
  (301) 975-2036
  NIST/BPEP 
  100 Bureau Drive, M/S 1020 
  Gaithersburg,
  MD 20899-1020

Created December 6, 2010, Updated November 15, 2019
 HEADQUARTERS
            100 Bureau Drive
              Gaithersburg, MD 20899301-975-2000
            Webmaster | Contact Us | Our Other Offices
        Twitter
            
Facebook
            
LinkedIn
            
Instagram
            
YouTube
            
Giphy
            
RSS Feed
            
Mailing List
                              How are we doing? Feedback

  
  Site Privacy
                      Accessibility
                      Privacy Program
                      Copyrights
                      Vulnerability Disclosure
                      No Fear Act Policy
                      FOIA
                      Environmental Policy
                      Scientific Integrity
                      Information Quality Standards
                      Commerce.gov
                      Science.gov
                      USA.gov
                      Vote.gov