Simplicity Or Ignorance?

Making things simple is an art.

Making things simple is an art.

In a business context you often hear that complex problems require simple solutions.

• “Solutions over problems.”

• “Give me the summary.”

• “80/20.”

In our personal lives, we are frequently challenged with complex problems — basically whenever humans are involved. Romantic relationship, company cultures, societal movements — all of these usually develop upon an interconnected web of variables changing over time.

And yet, we often try to find simple answers.

• “Well, she simply is a person that does X / He just can’t see that Y.”

• “My colleagues just don’t understand that we need to work as a team.”

• “These protesters are just a group of dumb people that doesn’t understand how it’s being manipulated.”

and so on.

Sometimes, simple answers are extremely valuable. But only if they are the result of a thorough understanding of the complexity of the question. If they aren’t, simple answers are ignorant. And create more problems down the road.

Again, making things simple is an art. Exactly. Making things simple is an art.

Making… The process of getting from complicated to simple.

That’s where the art lies in. Not in having a simple solution to spit out.

Because only if simplicity acknowledges complexity can you find genius. If it doesn’t, all you’ll find is ignorance.

That’s why asking “why do you think that?” matters. That’s why the process of answering a question often is a lot more insightful than the answer itself.

That’s why process matters — not just outcome.

To simplicity,
Phil