Serious Simplicity
Simplicity is something I am passionate about and try to infuse into all my projects and consulting work. I call my kind of simplicity Serious Simplicity because I believe simplicity is something we should be serious about.
Why?
When simplicity is taken seriously it can be highly effective. And the benefit of effective simplicity is that it enables people to see eye-to-eye. This could be with your customers, bosses, employees, clients or your spouse. Or, to put it another way, the effect of serious simplicity is to enable understanding between two or more people.
This is valuable because it increases efficiency, improves relationships, reduces uncertainty and minimises misunderstandings.
When?
Choosing the right time to be simple is important: sometimes complexity is necessary. What is often misunderstood is that simplicity is not the opposite of complexity. It is more about how to present and convey that complexity in a way that is understandable.
In fact, simplicity and simplification are often not about removing stuff. Adding something in the right place, or introducing elements of 'intelligent redundancy', can often do much more towards achieving the objective of eye-to-eye understanding. Therefore, rather than knowing when to simplify, what is important is knowing when to use which simplicity technique.
How?
Being effectively simple does require effort and investment, which once again is why we need to be serious about it. But the good news is that simplicity is a skill that can be learnt, refined and practiced at will.
There are many ways of doing this. Some people might have an 'innate' talent for simplifying things in a useful and effective manner. Many don't. Based on my academic and on-going research I have been developing models and methods for simplicity that is proving effective in the work I am involved in. In the near future, I hope to be able to write more about this online, possibly in an e-book format.
