Simplify: Doing What Actually Matters with Axios co-founder Mike Allen

How much of your day is consumed by work that no longer needs to exist?

In this episode of Going Big!, host Kevin Gentry sits down with Mike Allen, one of America’s most influential political journalists and the co-founder of Axios, to explore the hidden cost of complexity and how leaders can reclaim time for the work that matters most.

Mike traces his journey from traditional newspaper journalism to Politico, where he helped create Playbook, and then to Axios, where he helped pioneer Smart Brevity. Now, in his new book Simplify—which you can get at smartbrevity.com/simplify —Mike and his co-authors apply those lessons to organizations and everyday life. The three-part framework is simple: confront what has accumulated, delete what doesn't add value, and amplify the work that people are uniquely good at.

The conversation explores AI, information overload, storytelling, organizational bloat, meetings, leadership, and the discipline required to say no. Mike shares a striking example from Goldman Sachs, where simplifying work gave one team 500 additional hours each year. 

For anyone interested in learning more about how to simply their work and their life, this episode offers a practical challenge to become more productive without simply doing more. And if you enjoyed the conversation, please subscribe to Going Big!, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who could use some hours back in their day.