Most Opportunities to Improve Are Obvious — If You Learn to See

Editor’s Note: This essay sits at the philosophical core of Cultivated. It expresses a foundational belief: most opportunities to improve work are visible, but obscured by complexity, noise, and habit.

Most Opportunities to Improve Are Obvious — If You Learn to See

It’s not that we can’t see the problems and their solutions.
We’re not blind to what’s happening around us.

But at work, we get pulled into minutiae, politics, drama, self-preservation, and the grind of delivery. Or we use our intelligence to make things far more complicated than they need to be.

No wonder we miss what’s right in front of us
— the obvious solutions.

If we could learn to notice differently, we’d see dozens of simple opportunities to make our organisations (and ourselves) better.
They’re not hidden.
They’re straightforward actions, clear fixes, and obvious paths forward
— but we don’t notice them.

Much of my work as a leadership thinking partner is simply pointing out what’s already visible. The factual, the simple, the plain.

People are often capable of seeing these things, but they lack time, space, and distance from the system to notice them clearly.

This is why external perspectives help.
They disrupt familiarity.
They reframe assumptions.
They surface the obvious.

The path to a better organisation is rarely about clever shortcuts. It’s about learning to notice, to think clearly, and to join the dots across systems.

That’s where the best solutions tend to live
— in the obvious.

Cultivated Notes are short visual companions to the work.
Some are reflective — filmed in quieter, everyday spaces. Others are practical — filmed in the studio and focused on methods and ways of working.
You can watch the note below, or read on where there’s more to explore.

The Obvious Often Feels Too Simple

Many people dismiss obvious solutions.

“If it’s so obvious, it can’t be right.”
“That’s too simple — it must be more sophisticated.”
"Simple solutions lack intelligence."

So we take detours.
We add layers.
We introduce frameworks, governance, tooling, and complexity.
We turn simple problems into intricate systems that are hard to explain and even harder to change.

As the book Obvious Adams (aff link) puts it,

“The obvious is so simple and commonplace that it has no appeal to the imagination.”

So we reject it.
We pursue complexity instead.

Our intelligence often blinds us.
We over-engineer answers and rationalise complexity as sophistication.
In doing so, we reject solutions that are already workable, understandable, and implementable.

The truth is simpler:
the obvious usually works.

Five Tests for the Obvious

1. The Solution Will Feel Simple

When you reach the right answer, it often feels embarrassingly straightforward.

If your solution is complicated, layered, or impossible to explain succinctly, it’s probably not the obvious one.

The right solution often fits on a small diagram, a single page, or a short explanation.

If it’s simple and it works — run with it.

2. Does It Align with Human Nature?

Can you explain it to a child, a colleague, or a non-expert?

If you feel awkward explaining it, or can’t answer basic questions about it, it’s likely not solving the problem clearly.

Obvious solutions are understandable across the organisation, and therefore actionable.

Clarity enables alignment.
Alignment enables momentum.
Momentum produces value.

3. Put It on Paper

Write it. Draw it. Map it.

Visualising an idea forces clarity.
Complexity becomes visible.
Gaps and inconsistencies surface.
Over-engineering reveals itself.

In my “Problems from a Vending Machine” workshop, participants compress problems and solutions into a tiny physical artefact.

The constraint forces simplicity.
Complexity simply doesn’t fit.

Writing and drawing are not administrative tasks.
They are thinking tools.

4. Does It Trigger the “Why Didn’t We See That?” Reaction?

When you share an obvious solution, people often feel a mix of delight and mild frustration that they didn’t spot it earlier.

Obvious ideas are memorable.
They travel quickly.
They energise teams.

Long explanations rarely mobilise action.
Clear, crisp insights do.

5. Is the Timing Right?

Even obvious solutions depend on timing.

Sometimes the organisation isn’t ready.
Sometimes the market has moved.
Sometimes the problem has changed.

Simplicity still requires context.

The Power of the Obvious

You don’t need to overthink this.

Complexity creates friction.
Simplicity creates movement.

Obvious doesn’t mean trivial.

It means practical, understandable, and implementable.
It means people can grasp the idea, align around it, and act.

The best solutions often look simple
— because they are the result of deep thinking, careful pruning, and deliberate restraint.

In business, simple and obvious usually wins.