Simple: Conquering the Crisis of Complexity, written by Alan Siegel and Irene Etzkorn, is an excellent reminder to all of us to rail against complexity and keep things simple. Even though I summarize some of the key points below, I still encourage you to pick up a copy and read this timely book.

The Crisis of Complexity

• Complexity wreaks havoc on business, government and finance making life more difficult and confusing for everyone
  
• Complexity is subtle; as Joseph Tainter suggests: “complexity creeps up on you.”
  
• Complexity is counter-intuitive
  
  • More information, more “background”, or more explanation rarely lead to greater simplicity and clarity
    

Breaking Through to Simplicity

• As Warren Buffet’s long time business partner Charlie Mingus said: “making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple… that’s creativity.”
  
• Simple can be a differentiating factor in a world beset by complexity
  

Three Principles of Simplicity

• Empathize – perceive others’ needs and expectations
  
• Distill – Boil down and customize what’s being offered to meet needs.
  
• Clarify – Make the offering easier to understand, use and benefit
  

• Empathy
  
  • Empathy is more than the standard definition of understanding another’s feelings. It requires an emphasis on the understanding of another’s thought processes, decision making strategies and attention spans.
    
  • As the English poet Shelley remarked: “a man, to be greatly good … must put himself in the place of another and of many others; their pains and pleasures… must become his own.” Percy Bysshe Shelley
    
  • One simple point of empathy so often neglected is to allow a customer to speak to an informed customer service representative within the company.
    

• Distill
  
  • Companies need to make informed decisions on behalf of their customers
    
    • To simplify is to curate and edit – lessen the options and choices faced by others
      
    • For many progressive companies, this results in having a good – better – best product line offering.
      
  • Companies need to design and lay-out their communication simply and intuitively.
    
    • Apple is the exemplar of this type of design in their products and their marketing
      
    • “Good design captures customer’s trust by disappearing.” Jack Dorsey, Cofounder of Twitter
      
  • Let customers decide how much information they want
    
    • At a glance
      
    • Preferred
      
    • In depth
      

• Clarify
  
  • Too much information is a prime source of complexity
    
  • To achieve clarity, we must apply design to information to make as intuitive as possible
    
    • Organize – extract the most meaningful information – figuring out what matters, and the order in which it matters.
      
    • Emphasize – create titles and sub-titles and bold, highlight, etc. to point out key points
      
    • Visualize
      
  • When communicating, we need to:
    
    • Separate information into discrete ideas or steps
      
    • Think sequentially
      
    • Summarize longer material
      
    • Hold back and de-emphasize less important information
      
    • Get rid of what’s unimportant
      
    • Write clearly
      
      • “The secret to more effective writing is simple: talk to your reader. Pretend the person who’ll read your letter or report is sitting across from you. Be informal. Relax.” Rudolf Flesch, Author of Say What You Mean
        
      • “The finest language is mostly made up of simple unimposing words.” George Eliot
        
  • Clear communication often
    
    • Adds value to products and services
      
    • Leads to better informed and more satisfied customers
      
    • Creates a higher level of trust and, as a result, brand loyalty
      

How Complex Organizations Can Simplify

• Simplifying requires a commitment from the top to create a “culture of simplicity.”
  
  • “Great leaders are often great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand.” General Colin Powell
    
• Take a customer first approach in order to break through the complexity that is naturally created by silos
  
• Beware that the “curse of knowledge” can make the complex appear to an expert to be simple.
  
  • “Familiarity with a particular area or domain leads to a particular kind of myopia that diminishes the ability to see creeping complexity.” Alan Siegel and Irene Etzkorn
    
  • Bring in people who are not insiders or subject experts to be a fresh set of eyes and ears and provide a perspective closer to that of the customer.
    

Conclusion

• Fight the forces of complexity in your business and life and simplify
  
• When starting a new project or idea, keep it simpler than you would like
  
  • 
    “You can always make it more complex later.”
    
• Simple is smart
  
  • It can help differentiate your product and service
    
  • It can help you get the more important done