Why
Simple Wins in This Complicated World
There are two kinds of people in the world:
simplifiers, and complicators.
Complicators, they seem blind or fearful of
simple solutions. Everything they do, they do it in the most difficult and complex
manner. From a distance, this looks like they thrive on challenges.
Simplifiers, on the other hand, are the
opposite. They avoid complications of any kind. They can be mistaken for people
who only do the minimum amount of work needed to get by.
The difference between these two kinds of
people becomes obvious when they are required to write an essay or report. Even
if they are writing about the exact same thing, the complicator will write far
more than the simplifier. From a distance it will look like the complicator
wrote the better piece, after all, its longer, and possibly more detailed.
However, it needs to be asked, does more
automatically mean better?
More + Complex = Better?
It’s human nature to want more, we find interest in the difficult and complex.
When we get more of something, we feel it is strangely worthwhile.
Our technological progress focuses a lot
on more. For decades a phone was something used to call people. Now
our phones are web browsers, cameras, gaming devices… When we see something
that has many different uses and functions, we assume it is better than similar
items.
For example, would you buy a pencil that is
great for drawing and writing, and comes with no other features, or a pencil
that comes with lots of other features?
Most of us would go with the second option,
even though in many ways its the inferior.
Complexity Is Appealing but Not Practical
Complexity might make something seem more attractive, but the
complications may actually subtract from something rather than add. It doesn’t
help to make something effective. But complexity is easy, simple can be
difficult to achieve.
Edsger W. Dijkstra, one of the founding
fathers of modern computer programming said,
“Simplicity is a great virtue but it requires hard work to achieve it
and education to appreciate it. And to make matters worse: complexity sells
better.”
Great pieces of work only emerge when you
take things away from it. For example, the Declaration of Independence was
heavily edited by Benjamin Franklin before he officially released it.
The first line originally read: “We
hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable…”
This is close to it, but there is something
lacking. So Benjamin Franklin got rid of the last three words and replaced them
with two.
Soon it read: “We hold these truths to be
self-evident”
The difference is immediate and striking in
its precision.
Simplicity Gets More Things Done
If you begin to see the beauty and efficiency in simplicity, you’ll be
clearer about the purpose of something and find problems less overwhelming.
Think about that multi-feature pencil again,
do we really need that many functions out of a pencil? No. What we truly need
is a pencil that makes writing and drawing easy. It’s that simple.
Simplifiers always look into seemingly complex
problems, interpret them, break them into smaller parts and
re-organize them.They are aware of unnecessary input of their work
which may complicate anything. Their goal is to simplify a problem in order to
be clear about the root cause of it and solve them in the simplest way, which
saves cost and effort.
When you start to make things simple, you can
improve your productivity and get closer to success. It all boils down to
trimming away unnecessary weight and baggage from your life which slows you
down.
Make It Simple, but Significant
So ask yourself: are you a simplifier or a complicator? If you think
that you lean towards being a complicator, don’t worry, it’s not something
permanent. It can be useful to go from a complicator to a simplifier. All you
need to do is follow two core rules:
1. A Clear Intention
This might be obvious, but before you set out
to do something, you should be 100% certain about exactly what it is you want
to do. If there is any uncertainty, your lack of understanding will be manifested
in useless extras and complications.
2. Kill your Darlings
The name of this comes from the great writer
(and master simplifier) William Falkner. It boils down to this.
If you’re working on something, and you do
something great (perhaps write a fantastic sentence) in a project, and it
doesn’t work with the rest, then you must get rid of it. Essentially, it
doesn’t matter how you feel about something, if it doesn’t work with the core
idea, you must get rid of it. Getting rid of bad stuff is easy, but it takes a
pro to see great stuff and remove it for the greater good.
Use this simple trick to decide what to keep
and what to ditch: Must Have, Should Have, Good to Have. If it’s a must-have
item, keep it; a should-have one, trim it; a good-to-have one only, consider
deleting it.
Simplification can massively increase your
productivity, but this takes practice. If you want to learn more about
simplifying, I recommend this article: How Being A Minimalist At Work
Can Make You More Successful
Leon Ho
https://www.lifehack.org/641505/why-simple-wins-in-this-complicated-world?ck_subscriber_id=168781672
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