Your five-year-old knows better than your consultant

Hey there,

Ever spend hours analyzing a business decision only to feel more confused than when you started?

Here's something that might change how you think: Sam Walton had a simple rule for every Walmart decision. If he couldn't explain it to a five-year-old in under 30 seconds, it was too complicated to implement.

Not too complicated to work. Too complicated to execute.

Walton understood something most executives miss: Complexity is the enemy of execution. The smartest strategy in the world fails if your team can't understand and implement it.

Today, Walmart generates over $600 billion annually using this child-like thinking approach. They're not the only ones.

Sam Walton's kindergarten business strategy

Picture this: You're running the world's largest retail chain. You have thousands of stores, millions of employees, complex supply chains across continents.

Most CEOs would create elaborate strategic frameworks. Multi-page memos. Detailed presentations with dozens of slides.

Sam Walton did the opposite.

Before implementing any major decision at Walmart, he'd test it with the "five-year-old rule." Could a kindergartner understand what they were doing and why?

"If I can't explain our strategy in one simple sentence, we're doing something wrong," Walton told his executive team repeatedly.

This wasn't about dumbing things down. It was about cutting through unnecessary complexity that slows execution.

When Walmart decided to focus on small-town locations, the explanation was simple: "Go where big stores aren't."

When they implemented everyday low prices, the pitch was: "Same low price every day, no tricks."

Five-year-olds could understand both strategies. So could store managers, cashiers, and customers.

Walmart grew to 10,500 stores globally using this simple thinking approach. Complex strategies die in translation. Simple ones spread like wildfire.

Amazon's 'what does the customer want?' filter

Jeff Bezos uses a similar approach at Amazon, but with a twist. Every major decision gets filtered through one kindergarten-level question: "Does this make things better for customers?"

If the answer requires a paragraph of explanation, it's probably wrong.

When Amazon considered adding free shipping, the question was simple: Do customers want free shipping? Yes. Decision made.

When they debated building warehouses closer to cities, the question was: Will this get products to customers faster? Yes. Decision made.

When they discussed creating Amazon Prime, the test was: Would customers pay for guaranteed fast shipping? Unknown, but let's test it simply and see.

No complex ROI models initially. No multi-year projections. Just simple customer-focused questions.

This child-like decision framework helped Amazon grow to $500 billion in annual revenue. While competitors got lost in analysis paralysis, Amazon moved fast because their decisions were simple enough to execute immediately.

McDonald's 'would a kid order this?' menu test

Ray Kroc built McDonald's around an even more literal five-year-old test. Before adding any menu item, he'd ask: "Would a five-year-old know how to order this?"

If the ordering process was complicated, it failed the test. If the food name was confusing, it failed. If preparing it required complex instructions, it failed.

This wasn't just about kids being customers. It was about operational simplicity.

The McDonald's menu has remained remarkably simple for decades. Burgers, fries, drinks, some breakfast items. Even when competitors added dozens of complex menu options, McDonald's resisted.

Why? Because complex menus slow down ordering, confuse customers, and make kitchen operations harder.

A five-year-old can order a Happy Meal. That simplicity extends to every operational decision McDonald's makes.

Result? Over 40,000 locations serving 70 million customers daily. Simple scales. Complex breaks.

Why smart people overcomplicate everything

Here's the paradox: The smarter you are, the more tempted you become to make things complicated.

Executives create elaborate frameworks to justify their intelligence. Consultants add complexity to justify their fees. Entrepreneurs build intricate strategies to feel professional.

But complexity kills execution every time.

Think about the last business decision that got stuck. How many people needed to approve it? How many meetings did it require? How thick was the documentation?

Now imagine if that decision could be explained in one sentence. How fast would it move?

The five-year-old decision framework

These three companies use variations of the same approach:

Ask the kindergarten question
Can you explain this decision to a five-year-old? If not, you probably don't understand it well enough yourself. Simplify until you can state it in one clear sentence.

Test with the front-line team
If your store managers, warehouse workers, or customer service reps can't immediately understand and execute the strategy, it's too complex. Simplify until the people implementing it can explain it to others.

Remove every unnecessary step
Each additional requirement, approval, or complication cuts your execution speed in half. Strip decisions down to their essential core.

Default to 'no' on complexity
If someone proposes something complicated, the burden of proof should be on them to explain why simplicity won't work. Not the other way around.

How to apply this tomorrow

Start testing every business decision against the five-year-old standard.

Your marketing strategy: Can you explain your entire marketing approach in one sentence a kindergartner would understand? If not, your team definitely doesn't understand it either.

Your product offering: Would a five-year-old know what you sell and why it matters? If your value proposition requires a detailed explanation, customers won't stick around to hear it.

Your business operations: Could a child understand the steps in your key processes? Complex operations break down under pressure. Simple ones scale.

Why simple beats smart

The businesses that last aren't built on brilliant complexity. They're built on simple ideas executed relentlessly well.

Walmart's strategy: Low prices through operational efficiency.

Amazon's strategy: Make customers happy by making things easy.

McDonald's strategy: Fast, consistent food anyone can order.

Five-year-olds can understand all three. So can employees, customers, and investors.

Meanwhile, brilliant strategic frameworks gather dust in filing cabinets while companies that follow them struggle to execute.

The next time you're stuck on a decision, ask yourself: Could I explain this to a kindergartner?

If the answer is no, you don't have a strategy problem. You have a complexity problem.

Simplify until a five-year-old gets it. Then watch how fast you can move.

What decision are you overcomplicating?