Gall’s Law

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July 26, 2024

“A step backward, after making a wrong turn, is a step in the right direction.”

– Kurt Vonnegut

Gall’s Law

Last year I made a huge pivot in one of our core businesses. It’s been costly, humbling, and exhausting. It was also necessary. All businesses plateau. Heck, so do people. Sometimes the business environment changes and you have to adapt. Sometimes you change and the business has to adapt. Either way, the first step is to realize that change is required. The next is to step back and get perspective. What’s not working? What works but might be holding us back? It’s time to scrutinize your approach.

My friend Tim Grahl recently shared how his business was stuck. In 2021, they earned $648,000. In 2022, they made $696,000. 2023 revenue? $696,000 again. A business coach told him about Gall’s Law which led to a breakthrough.

John Gall was a scholar whose seminal work was Systemantics: How Systems Work and Especially How They Fail. In it, he asserted: “A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work. You have to start over with a working simple system.” In other words, simple systems will beat complex systems every time. This idea has become a widely-followed rule of thumb for system design known as “Gall’s Law.”

Tim opened up his calendar and met with 50 clients. He got reacquainted with his customers (and they weren’t who he thought they were.) He asked them about the services and products. What did they value? What was just noise? (He was surprised by their answers.) He didn’t fight the feedback. He streamlined his business, removing 12 of his 14 offerings. The result? Half a year later, he is on track to hit $1.2M and double his revenue.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is go back to the beginning and start again. Heed Thoreau’s wisdom. Simplify, simplify!

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Jay Papasan

Co-author of The One Thing & The Millionaire Real Estate Agent ​