87 | Complexity bias and Occam's Razor
Feeling pulled in a hundred directions? You might be suffering from complexity bias. In this episode, I unpack the power of asking better questions, why our brains resist simple solutions, and how I’ve built my business by focusing on what actually moves the needle.
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Transcript
I am Alex, and you're listening to The Mindful With Media Podcast.
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:Hello, podcasting friends.
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:It is a Friday afternoon.
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:That's usually when I record
my podcast episodes and.
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:The window in my office is open and
I can hear the birds chirping, and I
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:went hiking this morning with my kids
for the first time this season and
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:I'm just in a really good, happy mood.
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:And , the energy of this time of
year feels so exciting and I love
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:it and I'm really excited for the.
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:A topic that I want to share today.
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:So my husband, Matt, his best
friend, comes over several mornings
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:each week to work out with Matt,
and then they have breakfast
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:together after, and Matt's buddy.
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:Was asking me, he knows a little
bit about my business and what I
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:do and coaching, and he loves to
ask questions, kind of get coached.
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:And so he was asking, I, he was
like, hypothetically, oh yeah.
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:How would you help someone get everything
they wanted to get done tomorrow?
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:And I responded, well,
what do you wanna get done?
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:And it was so interesting, his response.
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:He was kind of, it kind of
shocked himself of like.
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:He didn't know what he wanted
to get done, and he thought
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:that it was clear in his head.
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:He thought he had this clear idea
in his head of what he wanted to get
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:done the next day, but he didn't.
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:It was all just buzzing around in
his head, and so he came back a few
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:days later and just shared that that
response, that question had really.
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:I helped him and, and not
just in that situation.
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:I think it was helpful in that situation
to get that clarity on deciding first
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:what he wanted to get done so he could
figure out how he could get it done.
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:But also he, he was just thinking about
it in all aspects of his life, that
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:sometimes the answer is so simple
that it almost seems silly.
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:That.
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:It's like, wait, can it
really be that simple?
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:Is that really possible?
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:And there's actually a
scientific name for this.
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:It's called complexity bias,
and it's this idea that.
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:Our minds are designed to make situations
more complicated than they need to be.
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:And
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:there's a few reasons why this happens.
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:. But we have this bias in our brains
that simple things or simple processes
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:or simple ways of thinking are less
effective or or inferior in some way.
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:And so our mind will try to find
the most complicated solution.
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:And this is interesting thinking
about like marketing or business.
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:And I'll get more into that
later, like how this applies.
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:But it's just interesting that.
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:It can be easy to chase
whatever the new thing is.
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:Like this is why your
business isn't working.
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:This is why your business isn't working.
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:You don't need to use this specific
funnel or this cool AI tool,
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:or this or that or the other.
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:That in our, our human minds
think that is better and that
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:is going to get better results.
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:Like that's how our brains are designed.
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:But I want to share this concept of.
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:Occam's Razor.
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:So Occam's Razor is this idea
that the simplest explanation
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:is usually the correct one.
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:And as I was learning more about this, it
doesn't mean that the simplest explanation
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:is always right, but it's that.
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:If you have lots of different theories
or ways of doing things, the one
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:with the fewest assumptions is most
likely to be effective or true.
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:And so it's the idea that you just
choose the the simplest explanation
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:or the simplest path, and that's
most likely to be the best one.
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:And
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:I've just been thinking about this
idea and how it relates to, to a
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:business and especially for female
business owners who their business
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:is not the only part of their life.
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:They have moms, they have young
kids, and they care about.
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:Their health and their nutrition and
their sleep, and their relationship with
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:their husband and their friendships and
their connection with God that they care
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:about a lot more than just their business.
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:And so I feel like this principle
of simplicity is even more crucial
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:for female business owners.
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:Than the average Joe, although
I think everyone could benefit
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:from understanding this, and so.
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:I also wanted to touch on Albert Einstein
and what he teaches about this and.
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:If you learn more about him, that
he, his gift wasn't necessarily
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:his math genius, like that was not
his gift, but he had a gift for
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:simplifying and, and, and being able to
decipher what to cut out and what to.
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:Not focus on and to, to really just
focus in on those things that mattered.
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:And it's true that a lot of us struggle
to, to know what to focus on, and
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:the natural human instinct is to.
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:When you're in this place of confusion
is to gather more information.
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:Okay, I just need to learn how to
get better at Instagram marketing.
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:Or I need to get, learn how to get
one-on-one clients, or I need to
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:learn how to optimize my funnel, or
I need to learn more information.
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:And I'm not saying that that's not the
case, but this, this principle is that.
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:Your human brain thinks that more
information is gonna solve the problem,
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:thinking it will make things more clear.
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:But that's not the case.
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:And so what really can set you
apart in this world of business
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:is if you're able to tune out the
noise, tune out all of the, the.
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:What you should be doing and
what could be blowing up your
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:business and all the things.
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:And if you're able to just focus
on those few crucial things and
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:ignore everything else, then that's
what's going to lead to success.
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:And I, I think it's really clear on
my, that, my perspective, that there's
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:not one right way to build a business.
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:But this has been my path to
building my business is simplicity.
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:Cutting out the fluff, just focusing
on those few things that matter
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:because I don't wanna spend a lot
of my time doing all the things.
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:I would rather spend a, a small
amount of time on my business.
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:I like working on my business,
but having more time for all those
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:other things that matter to me, my.
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:You know, adventuring with my kids
and sleeping and running and reading
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:books and serving in my church and just
having other things that are priorities.
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:And so this, I assume if you're listening
to this podcast, that way of building
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:your business resonates with you.
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:And so it comes back to
simplifying, simplifying, and.
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:Trusting this Ccam razor theory that
the simplest path is the right path.
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:And so I just wanna share some
examples of what this could
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:look like in, in your business.
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:So the first thing that comes to mind is
like all of the tasks that you feel like
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:you need to work on in your business.
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:And feeling like, okay, well I just need
more childcare so I can get more done.
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:Or I, yeah, just feeling like I need to
do everything and spend time on all the
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:tasks that come with running a business.
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:And, and like I say that, that may
be true, that may be the case, but
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:in this principle of simplicity is
coming back to like, okay, . Where
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:is most of my revenue coming from?
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:What tasks lead to me making that money
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:and then spending most of your time
on those tasks that are leading to you
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:making the money and and dropping things?
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:And I'll just make a side note here.
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:I created a workbook.
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:It was almost exactly a year ago actually.
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:And I called it a Mom's Guide
to Building a simple Business.
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:I think a better name would probably
be, something about identifying
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:the needle movers in your business.
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:So, you know, and I think I
did the subtitle is something
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:like, so you know which tasks
to do and which tasks not to do.
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:And I actually have this.
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:Very clear step-by-step process to
help you identify the needle movers not
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:only in your business, but also in your
life and different parts of your life.
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:It's a really thorough.
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:Guide I, it's not available to purchase,
but if you're listening to this podcast
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:episode, I'll include it, the link
in the show notes to purchase it.
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:It's only $27, and that can be a really
helpful tool to help you identify for you
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:personally, for your business, what things
to focus on and what things to let go of.
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:Okay.
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:Coming back to kind of some examples of
simplicity and its power and business.
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:So when I first started my business, and
that was when I was transitioning from.
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:I know.
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:Well, so I had already started mindful
with media as a platform, as a a
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:way to share my thoughts and ideas.
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:But I, I kind of had this point
where I was like, you know what?
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:I wanna monetize this.
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:And I really felt like God wanted me to
monetize it and turn it into a business.
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:And for a long, long, long time, that's.
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:That's what I was working towards.
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:I was working towards making money
in my business and making more money
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:in my business, making good money
from my business, and I, I had this
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:very strong belief, like I knew there
would come a day when I was making
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:really good money for my business.
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:But it wasn't until I got more clear on
how much money I wanted to be making and
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:how I wanted to be making that money,
that I was able to take the aligned
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:action to actually make that happen.
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:And, and so, and I even find this
still, I kind of get to points
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:where it's like, okay, well I
know I wanna grow my business.
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:And it's like, okay, then
you can kind of take.
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:Th that desire lead to, what is it?
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:Vague goals, lead to vague action.
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:Those vague desires, in my experience,
have led to very vague actions where
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:it's like, it kind of feels like
everything is important and none of
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:it is important all at the same time.
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:But if I can get clear on.
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:This summer, I would love to be making
X amount of dollars, and this is how
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:I want to be making that money to
new private clients or 10 new clients
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:in my group coaching program or.
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:A thousand people purchasing
my, digital product, whatever it
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:is, you know, get really clear on.
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:How do you wanna be making?
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:How much money do you wanna be making and
how do you wanna be making that money?
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:And then that can really help you to focus
your, your time and in your energy when
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:you do have time to work on your business.
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:Okay.
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:If my focus is on finding another
private client, how have I found
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:private clients in the past?
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:What are some common themes
and connections between how
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:I found clients in the past?
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:And this doesn't mean you never
try anything new, but focus on
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:what's worked and what's working
and, and, and trust that process
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:instead of just randomly, yeah.
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:Doing all of these tasks and,
and it's interesting because the,
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:the actions can look the same, you
know, like the actual tasks that you're
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:doing in your business, but if you
have the right clarity behind them.
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:It, it can change everything.
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:Even thinking about this example of
Matt's friend, you know, we could
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:have never had that conversation
about how to get these things done.
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:He could have started his next day and
started doing some of the things that
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:were on his mind that he wanted to get
done, but the whole day felt buzzy and
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:stressed and rushed and confused, but
instead, he was able to clearly lay out,
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:okay, this is what I wanna get done.
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:And this is how I wanna get it done,
and this is when I can get it done.
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:And then you just have that clarity
and that peace of mind instead of this
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:like buzzy confusion if it's actually
getting you where you want to go.
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:And I do wanna make just a
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:note on this idea, because there is
such a balance between trusting that
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:things are working, even though you
can't see the immediate results.
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:So that's how, how I do the marketing
in my business, my social media
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:posts, my emails, my podcast.
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:I am not looking at
analytics for those because.
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:That is not directly leading to, like,
I would rather have a, a post that
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:gets really low engagement, but leads
to a high paying client than have,
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:you know, a post go viral, but
have no, no business come from it.
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:That's just the way that I've
set up my business is low.
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:Volume, high, high
touch, high, high ticket.
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:And so that's the same.
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:I'm, I'm not interested in huge download
numbers on my podcast, things like that.
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:And so because I've set my business
up that way, I have to trust that
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:even though I can't see the immediate
results from those, from my marketing.
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:I still trust that they are leading
to what I want to create, but there's
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:also this other side of zoning
in on those needle movers in your
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:business and not wasting time on
tasks that aren't really helping.
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:And then also being willing to shift
and pivot when something isn't working.
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:You know, I think this idea that
it's not just all about you.
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:You have to be aware of what your
audience wants to buy and how much they're
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:willing to pay for things and messaging
that they're drawn to and not drawn to.
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:And so it's, it's really a
kind of, I don't know if.
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:Balance is the right word,
but it, it feels like this.
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:You, you have to have discernment
where those things could all
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:seem contradictory, you know?
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:Okay.
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:Trusting that these actions that I'm
taking, even though I can't see how
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:they're working, they are working,
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:But then on the other hand, don't
waste your time on tasks that aren't.
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:Working and, and really just focus on
those things that are moving the needle.
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:But it's like, okay, but how do you
know what those are anyways, that can,
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:that can feel, that takes discernment.
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:And, and I do have processes of
helping you figure that out too,
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:if you feel confused on that.
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:And, and yeah, with being willing to shift
and change when things aren't working, so.
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:Kind of just to wrap
things up, the answer to
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:getting what you want out of your
business might be simpler than you
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:think It might be as simple as asking,
what do you want from your business?
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:There's a lot of power
in just getting clear on.
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:What you want specifically getting
specific, you know, just like Matt's
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:friend, he needed to get specific on what
did he want, what he wanted to get done.
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:As you get specific on what you want
from your business, how much you wanna
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:be making, how you wanna be making
that money, the hours you wanna be
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:working or not working, the kind of
work you wanna be doing or not doing.
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:I think really getting
clear on that can be.
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:Super simple and surprisingly powerful,
and the answer to growing your business
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:might be simpler than you think.
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:It might not be this complex way
of growing your business, even
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:though your human brain might
think that that's, that's going to
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:be the way to grow your business.
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:It might be showing up every day again
and again, and again and again without.
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:Huge flashy results.
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:It might be
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:simple conversations with, with people
who you're already connected to.
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:It might be
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:being willing to be vulnerable
and share about your offer
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:over and over and over again.
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:And just some, some questions you can
ask yourself is, what do I actually want?
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:What's already working?
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:What's the most obvious next step?
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:What could be simple if I
stopped overthinking it?
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:So I'm a, I'm a huge believer in
simplicity and being aware of how our
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:minds are trying to overcomplicate
things that don't need to be as
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:complicated as they might seem initially.
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:If you can just break
things down and, and.
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:Do the boring things, do the
unsexy things, then that's,
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:that's the pathway to to success.
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:That's been my experience.
