I have a habit of looking for complicated causal factors in why something is not working well. I do this in both life and business. Over the years, I have noticed this trend. I call this “shooting above the mark,” and upon further investigation, it is something that most humans do. The reasons are rather simple, I think. People tend to look for more complicated reasons then the simple and apparent one of them that is right in front of them. They do this because of the following considerations:
Complex Requires the Complex – We tend to think that if we have a complicated challenge in our life, it must be because of a complicated source. This is a false narrative, as the opposite tends to be true. This is what people refer to as “overthinking.”
Control Freaks—When we have a complicated causality, we gain a sense of control. Only I can understand this, so that keeps me in control and protects my sense of mastery. When an obvious and simple issue is the root cause, then we feel vulnerable.
Novelty Bias—There is some evidence that humans favor new ideas and new things in their environment. We love to explore new or novel explanations rather than deal with the same old repeating story that we know to be true.
Sidestepping Accountability—When we find a complex problem, it gives us some deniability. By showing off that we know this really complicated challenge caused the failure, we look less responsible for the problem that we are facing.
This tendency leaves us in a predicament where we will ignore the simple and obvious problem that is glaring at us. There are many methods to protect against this tendency. I ask others for their honest opinion about a problem that I am facing. I have noticed that people who are not connected to the issue are more likely to notice the simple and obvious. Therefore, outside guidance is critical so that I can make sure I am not missing the obvious.
I will provide a simple example from my life. I was feeling exhausted and sluggish. I had a headache that was affecting me most of the day. Late that night, I complained to my wife about these symptoms. I told her that I thought there was something wrong with me. Perhaps I was fighting an infection or had some other underlying health issue. She asked me, “How much water have you been drinking?” As it turned out, that simple problem was the root cause. I was dehydrated. After drinking more water for a few days, I suddenly started feeling significantly better.
This seems obvious to any outsider, but I can almost guarantee that this same scenario has happened to almost everyone. This is because we do not want to believe that something so simple could be the cause of our ailment. We want a more complicated answer for all the reasons that I outlined above. Personal health is a great place to look when identifying situations in which you are overlooking the simple answers.
I often find myself assisting or providing advice to new startup founders. I have been down this road myself a few times and I have been in the business of growing organizations for long enough to have learned a thing or two. I am often shocked at how often a founder will do this exact same thing. They will wonder what is wrong and why they are not succeeding. Why is their product messaging not resonating with their clients? They start to dig deep into their product offering, and their teams are looking for the reason that this is occurring. They want to find the secret formula that has been evading them. Often times I will ask the simple question, have you asked any of your clients? They stare dumbfounded because this is an obvious method for finding out the root cause behind the lack of adoption. Almost without exception, the clients that they do have will tell them what was so difficult about their messaging. Usually, when they go and perform this exercise of talking to their client, they come back with an epiphany, and it almost is always something that is painfully simple.
Have you ever been to counseling, like marriage counseling? This is another situation where the obvious is sitting right out in the open, and no one will address it. You have to pay money to a third party to state the obvious. We just do not seem to get along; we are always angry with each other. We are annoyed with each other. The therapist will ask a simple question: when was the last time you two spent time alone as a couple on a date or something like that? The couple in therapy will stare at the floor, realizing at that moment that the culprit was not something complex; it was just that they were not connecting as a couple anymore. Sometimes it is not this simple, I know, but often it is. If you were to stop belittling him constantly, he might like you. If you were to stop yelling at her, she might want to spend time with her. Yes, relationships can be complicated, but oftentimes, they can be fixed with the simplest of actions.
In both life and business, it’s often the simplest solutions that evade us, hidden beneath layers of overcomplication we create for ourselves. The truth is, simplicity requires humility. It takes vulnerability to admit that maybe we’ve missed the mark and that the answer was right there all along. Whether it’s in personal health, a business challenge, or even our relationships, the lesson is clear: stop “shooting above the mark.” Instead, embrace the possibility that the root of the problem is more straightforward than you think.
The key is to develop habits that force you to confront the simple truth. Ask for outside perspectives, challenge your assumptions, and give yourself permission to acknowledge the obvious. Because at the end of the day, it’s not complexity that solves our problems—it’s clarity. And that clarity often comes when we stop overcomplicating things and face the straightforward, obvious truth staring back at us.
