[Founder Story] I Should Have Made Things Simpler — LLeanStore Journal

Since around 2020, I started feeling that corporate life didn't quite fit me anymore. It wasn't the work itself.

I loved solving problems. What exhausted me were the things around it—the noise, the politics, the unfairness, and sometimes the weight of responsibilities that didn't always make sense.

Still, because of family reasons, leaving wasn't an option.

Life moved on. After some family matters settled, I moved to another city and joined another company. The work became even more complex. The expectations became higher. The systems were different. But I also learned more than I ever expected.

One thing I was always proud of was my team. I kept encouraging them to learn. To improve. To leave a legacy instead of just finishing today's work. Watching them grow was one of the things that made me happiest. At the same time, we built pwakaizen.online together. It wasn't only my project. My team helped shape it. They gave ideas. They tested it. They improved it.

The same happened later with Leader Standard Work. It wasn't built overnight. It grew little by little as we kept learning together. Then something changed.

As the company kept growing, the work increased. The headcount didn't. My individualistic side started talking. "We don't need another person." "We'll find a more efficient way." "I'll build another system."

Looking back, that became one of the biggest lessons of my career. I thought taking more work was empathy. I thought I was helping my team by carrying more on my shoulders.

I was wrong.

Real empathy isn't carrying everyone's work. It's helping people grow until they can carry it themselves.

Over time, members of my team moved on. I was genuinely happy for them. I knew they would do well.

What I didn't expect was how much their absence would reveal the systems I hadn't built. Projects kept coming.

As someone who loves building things, I was excited. But as a team leader, I slowly realized something else. Every new project pulled my attention in another direction. My team didn't know which work mattered most anymore.

Not because they weren't capable. Because I hadn't made the priorities clear enough.

Everything started feeling tangled.

I kept thinking... "There has to be a simpler way." "There has to be something that helps people see through this complexity."

I wanted to build it. Not just for my team.

For everyone who might one day stand in the same position. But I didn't have the time. That thought stayed with me. Even after work. Even after going home.

It kept repeating the same sentence. "You should have made things simpler."