A Longer Note: On Simplicity

But there’s a dark side to this…

It’s that niggling feeling that says “what if you’re missing something?”

It’s the imposter monster within us all that jumps up and screams “what if you’re wrong!”

Worse still, you also run the risk of something like this:

Image Credit to The Workshop Survival Guide – A Really Useful Book!

Finally, simplicity sucks when someone says to you “Is there anything else?” – with a skeptical look in their eye that says ‘Really, that’s all?! …Are you some kind of simpleton?’ (Side note – I’m still working on answering that question with a confident “yes! you don’t need anymore than that – stop overcomplicating it!”)

It’s an interesting dilemma though because in a corporate environment – what’s the alternative?

Reams of documentation?

10 Step methodologies with 30+ templates?

140 question surveys with ‘on a scale of 1-77 how do you feel about the cheese in the café downstairs’?

Gorgeous PowerPoint decks that somehow cost more than a brand new Porsche 911?

Process models that map every step of your morning rhythm between picking up your toothbrush to forgetting where your keys are?

Yes. Your latest consultant-supplied PowerPoint deck did cost more than this work of automotive art. Are you going to do any of the recommendations in it? – Nah, probably not.

When faced with the choice between clunky complexity and uncomfortable simplicity – I’d choose the discomfort of simplicity any day. (I suspect you would too).

And here’s the crux of it. Effective simplicity isn’t about getting your templates more streamlined, or about building toolsets that help you ‘follow the bouncing ball’. It’s not even a ‘principles based approach’.

Effective simplicity is having useful ways of thinking about complex problems.

It’s having the right questions to ask. The right analogies to share. And the right mental connections to make.

And for anyone leading change – that’s worth enduring a million ‘is that all?’ looks.