A few years ago, I went hiking with a friend.
We packed everything: snacks, jackets, gadgets, books, even a small stove “just in case.”
By the second hour, we were exhausted.
At some point, we sat down, opened our bags, and started removing things.
Instantly, everything felt lighter.
Same path. Same goal. Half the effort.
I remember thinking: this is exactly what most companies get wrong.
They want to go faster. So they keep adding weight.
The Addiction to Addition
Something goes wrong? Add a tool.
Sales slow down? Add a process.
Morale drops? Add a workshop.
No one knows what’s going on? Add a meeting.
Adding feels productive. It looks like leadership.
But it rarely solves the real problem.
Removing, on the other hand, feels dangerous.
Because everything that exists has a protector.
That CRM field is someone’s baby.
That report justifies someone’s job.
That weekly meeting was born out of someone’s insecurity.
So we keep adding layers until nobody remembers what the original problem was.
And then we call it “growth.”
The Silent Killer of Velocity
In sales, complexity is like sand in the gearbox.
Everything still moves, but slower, heavier, and noisier.
If you measure commercial performance with the Sales Velocity Equation:
Opportunities × Deal Size × Win Rate ÷ Sales Cycle,
then complexity hurts all four at once.
It limits the number of opportunities because reps spend their time updating dashboards instead of meeting clients.
It reduces deal size because overloaded offers confuse rather than clarify.
It kills win rate because focus gets diluted.
And it stretches the cycle because every decision requires another round of internal approval.
Complexity gives the illusion of control but steals the very thing that creates results: momentum.
Complexity — The Silent Killer of Velocity
In sales, complexity is like sand in the gearbox.
Everything still moves, but slower, heavier, and noisier.
If you measure commercial performance with the Sales Velocity Equation:
Opportunities × Deal Size × Win Rate ÷ Sales Cycle,
then complexity hurts all four at once.
It limits the number of opportunities because reps spend their time updating dashboards instead of meeting clients.
It reduces deal size because overloaded offers confuse rather than clarify.
It kills win rate because focus gets diluted.
And it stretches the cycle because every decision requires another round of internal approval.
Complexity gives the illusion of control but steals the very thing that creates results: momentum.
The Real Job of a Leader
Most leaders think their role is to add.
Add structure. Add rules. Add clarity.
But real leadership is about removing what blocks flow.
It is about having the courage to say, “This no longer serves us.”
Formula 1 teams don’t win by adding horsepower. They win by reducing drag.
The same principle applies to sales.
If you want velocity, stop asking “What can we add?”
Start asking “What can we remove without losing value?”
Travel Light
Ask yourself:
• Which meetings would nobody miss?
• Which reports are created just to prove existence?
• Which customers make everyone sigh before a call?
• Which processes are there because someone once said, “we’ve always done it this way”?
Each answer is a kilo you could remove from your backpack.
The lighter you travel, the faster you move.
That’s true in the mountains.
And even truer in business.
At Ezo, we help companies travel lighter.
Not by adding new systems, but by removing the noise that slows them down.
Because in the end, performance does not come from doing more.
It comes from doing less, with clarity, flow, and purpose.
Learning for Performance 