Doing the simple things is hard today.

We live in an era where complexity has become synonymous with competence.

More metrics, more reports, more tools, more jargon and at the same time, more difficulty in getting the basics done in everyday work.

The foundation of the organization the people who operate, execute, and make decisions in the field wants clarity, accessibility, practicality, and purpose. They want something that works on a daily basis, amidst pressure and noise. The issue is that keeping things simple today is hard, and the data shows why.

Simplicity starts with the ability to understand.

When we say people “want it simple,” we aren’t talking about something superficial. We are talking about eliminating real barriers to understanding.

According to the 2024 Functional Illiteracy Indicator (Inaf), about 29% of Brazilians aged 15 to 64 are considered functionally illiterate meaning they struggle to understand everyday texts and numbers, even if they have formal schooling. This percentage remains at the same level observed in 2018. Among young people aged 15 to 29, there was a concerning increase in this status, jumping from 14% to 16% [1].

This means that nearly three out of ten people might “see” a procedure, but not grasp its true meaning in their daily operations. This directly impacts the implementation of policies, rules, and practices when they are communicated in technical language without the necessary practical adaptation.

This isn’t an isolated phenomenon in Brazil.

The challenge of comprehension isn’t exclusive to us; it’s a global issue.

Recent data from the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) shows that across participating countries, an average of 26% of adults have low levels of reading proficiency (level 1 or below). This indicates difficulty in understanding texts that require more than just identifying isolated pieces of information [2].

In the United States, for example, approximately 28% of adults also fell into the lowest levels of reading proficiency in the 2023 results, an increase from previous years [3].

These numbers force us to ask: if a significant portion of the workforce struggles to understand dense texts, how can we expect them to apply complex procedures in the field?

Technical Language is an Invisible Barrier

As professionals, we often forget that the words we use in the office or the training room are not the same language used in the operational environment.

Procedures, standards, forms, and action plans written in technical jargon create an invisible distance between those who plan and those who execute. This makes it harder for people to:

• Internalize the real meaning of what is expected of them;
• Make the right decisions under pressure;
• Translate information into concrete action.

Research on communication in healthcare a critical field where errors have an immediate impact demonstrates that using plain language significantly improves understanding and reduces errors in interpreting recommendations and guidelines. Controlled studies, for instance, have shown that educational materials in plain language increased treatment adherence and improved the ability of caregivers and patients to follow medical instructions correctly [4]. If this happens in contexts as delicate as healthcare, why would it be any different in the daily operations of safety and production?

Simplicity Requires Proximity to the Real Work

There is no effective simplification without immersion in the operational context.

Those who don't know the field make things complicated. Those who don't observe the day-to-day create solutions for an imaginary workplace.

To translate strategy into concrete action, it is necessary to:

• Know how decisions are actually made;
• See how information is read, interpreted, and applied;
• Speak the language of those on the frontline;
• Reduce cognitive load without losing what is essential.

Simplifying is respecting those who actually get the work done.

Keeping it Simple is an Act of Leadership

Simplifying is not dumbing down the language; it is elevating its impact.

It is taking responsibility: if the people executing the tasks don't fully understand what is expected, the problem lies in how we communicate, not in their supposed “resistance” to learning.

When we manage to transform a complex concept into a simple, objective, and practical instruction, something powerful happens:

• People understand with less effort;
• They repeat it with more confidence;
• They execute with more consistency;
• And thus, culture stops being just talk and becomes behavior.

Conclusion

Keeping it simple is hard because it requires:

• Depth to distill information;
• Proximity to understand;
• Courage to abandon language that only serves the author of the document;
• Discipline to turn theory into practice.

But when we manage to keep it simple, we make the organization’s goals not only understandable but truly achievable.

Until next time!

Andreza Araújo

References:

[1] UNICEF. (2025, 5 de maio). Analfabetismo funcional não apresenta melhora e alcança 29% dos brasileiros, mesmo patamar de 2018, aponta novo levantamento do Inaf. https://www.unicef.org/brazil/comunicados-de-imprensa/analfabetismo-funcional-nao-apresenta-melhora-e-alcanca-29-por-cento-dos-brasileiros-mesmo-patamar-de-2018-aponta-novo-levantamento-do-inaf

[2] OECD. (2024). Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) - Public data and analysis. https://www.oecd.org/skills/piaac/

[3] OECD. (2024). Survey of Adults Skills 2023: United States. https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/survey-of-adults-skills-2023-country-notes_ab4f6b8c-en/united-states_427d6aac-en.html

[4] Berkman, N. D., Sheridan, S. L., Donahue, K. E., Halpern, D. J., & Crotty, K. (2011). Low health literacy and health outcomes: an updated systematic review. Annals of Internal Medicine, 155(2), 97–107. https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/0003-4819-155-2-201107190-00005