The Power of Simplicity

Simplicity: How to Get There

The word "simple" arouses negative connotations in people’s minds. People hear "simple" and immediately think "stupid." Decision makers in the business world go one step further: They hear "simple" and think "consultant." Companies pay large amounts of money to avoid simplicity. They hire consultants armed with complicated graphs and theories to explain why their companies aren’t performing better in the marketplace. They hire other groups to predict the future of the marketplace. When it comes to development or crisis management, they back several ideas instead of focusing all their energy on one.

It is easy to see why. Complexity feels smarter. If someone presents a theory and we don’t understand it, we assume that it’s because we’re not as educated or intelligent as that person. For the most part, this is not true. The greatest thinkers have always strived to make their ideas intelligible. Einstein worked with several different people to make his theory of relativity clear enough for the laymen to understand.

Also, complexity feels safer. In school we are taught to think about every angle of a problem. We are taught to go down ...