Skip to main content

Role of complexity in ‘Keeping it Simple’


"It can scarcely be denied that the supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience." – Albert Einstein

It is not simple to ‘keep it simple’.

Process of ‘Keeping it simple’ involves complexity. We need to accept that we cannot keep it simple for everyone involved. Simplifying one constituent would almost always make it a bit more complex for others involved. 

However, ‘keeping it simple’ can work wonders when we consciously decide to make it simple for constituent that matters.

For most Organizations, ‘keeping it simple’ for the ‘consumer’ is a good strategy. Most Organizations get this right, but they also need to understand that making  it simple for consumer would result into a more complex (or at least ‘changed’) business process or operating principles for other constituents. In this age, it will require complex technology solutions as well.

Solutions that will delight the consumers, are almost guaranteed to make it complex for an Organization, from both Technology and Business process point of view. But we have to recognize that this complexity is part of keeping it simple for the consumer.

Keeping it simple is complex. Instead of shying away from complexity, we should be building a culture and workforce that embraces these ‘complexities’ and keeps it simple for our Consumers.  

Complexity cannot be destroyed, it can merely be transferred from one constituent to another! (Or simplified by Technological breakthroughs) 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to go from ‘thought’ to ‘reality - Be comfortable with your ‘naivety’

Most of the times ideas that you have will fall outside of your comfort area and ‘day job skills’. You may be thinking about ‘transplanting’ what you have learned in one area and trying to apply the same in a different area. After the initial excitement, you will realize that you know very little about the other area in which you are venturing. Instead of fearing such situation, you should be ‘comfortably excited’. Here are 2 reasons why: You will have an opportunity to learn about this new area. Not knowing all details about this new area is an advantage, and not a handicap. This naivety allows you to not be bounded by assumptions that people with thorough knowledge and experience of this area have. This allows you to bring in a new perspective. Take ideas, data, experience and inspiration from your current experience to the new area. For more such lessons,  click here.
Post a Comment
Read more

How to innovate - Skate where the puck is going

“A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be” – Wayne Gretzky This cliché quote from Gretzky has been so overused that people have stopped paying attention to anything that follows it. So why do I bring up this quote in the context of Innovation? I bring it up to highlight that most people using this quote do not talk about difficulty involved in, and practice and patience needed to anticipate where puck is going. So I want to recognize that anticipating where proverbial puck is going is not easy. It requires physical and mental conditioning, developing specific skills and lot of practice. It also requires being comfortable with going to a place where the puck does not arrive. If we want to innovate, we need to get comfortable with not finding the puck where we anticipated it to go. And keep ‘pivoting’ till we become good at reaching as close to puck as we can. Same is the case with Innovation – it is not eas...
Post a Comment
Read more

Are you an Innovator?

'Why I am asking this?'. As someone who 'thinks' he is an innovator, I often find my self alone when I want to share my ideas, discuss solutions, get feedback and get a different perspective. This question is an attempt to seek out others who may also find themselves in similar situation. I would love to form a group of such people to collaborate for our mutual benefit. "When in doubt, ask Wikipedia": This principle has stood me well whenever I find myself short on information about something or when I cannot express something concisely and clearly. Wikipedia has never disappointed me and has often left me in utter dis-belief that it is 'crowd sourced' and not 'institutionally curated' information.     Here is what Wikipedia says about an Innovator:             An innovator in a general sense, is a person or an organization who is one of the first to introduce into reality  something bett...
Post a Comment
Read more