Making the Complex Simple
When seeking a solution, it's always easier to add than to take away. But the latter is far more valuable.
“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.” — Hans HofmannNothing is more challenging than returning an idea to its essence after it is shared. We are driven to augment, to add our take, to offer input intended to make it better.
The result?
What seemed simple and clear at first is suddenly convoluted and complicated. Often barely recognizable. Sometimes for the better. Other times, not.
The quest for simplicity has become a dominant feature in my life in 2020. It is my word for the year — as a chronic over-thinker, I’ve reached a point where I realize making the simple complicated seldom makes anything better.
From DepositPhotos.com
Don’t get me wrong. Taking a seedling of an idea and blowing it up to expose its possibilities and potential is a crucial step toward releasing its power. But the real value is added by having the guts to let go of what doesn’t fit before it gets in the way.
If you’re anything like me, you know doing that is hard. Damn hard. It is much more fun to explore new pathways to reach into thin air and extract yet another option. To ponder how great the original idea might be if we let it speak.
Yet the more we do, the further we stray from the purpose of the idea. It morphs into something with no resemblance to its origin, often minimally aligned with the problem we set out to solve. We become distracted. Our energy diverted to playing with it instead of unlocking its value.
And that, I’ve finally realized, is a path to nowhere. Great to find if you are going out for a walk, but relatively useless if you want to create something for others or solve a problem.
Perhaps therein lies the brutal reality — if you seek to solve a problem for others, the only path is simplicity. Complexity may be impressive but it is almost impossible to communicate, simplicity is memorable and easy to share.
As I write this morning, memories of hundreds of strategy sessions facilitated for clients across the past three decades cycle through my mind. Vivid recollections of all those times when eyes glazed over as the 'idea people’ in the room pushed the boundaries while the ‘execution people’ sat quietly waiting for a decision so they could start planning the next steps.
The truth is the balance between those two perspectives provided the friction necessary to force a choice — like two walls closing in on one another to push the simplicity into the light.
That is the crucible from which clarity, confirmation, and commitment emerge.
And it is a good thing.
Today’s Action Question
If this idea of simplifying resonates with you, then the question to ask is simple: What creates the friction you need to remove complexity so simplicity can emerge? It might be a process, a person, or the passage of time. Maybe it is a team or a mastermind group. Whatever you have access to or can create is all you need to release the simple solution. It is worth the effort and it demands prompt and intentional action.
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P.S. If you’re finding value in these posts, please take a moment to share them with someone you know who needs to be inspired to think differently and become the person they are capable of becoming. You might be able to help them take the most important step — the first one.