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“The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
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Oscar Wilde
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“What a simple black and white world you must live in.”
unknown
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Communication.
Effective communication has been, and always will be, complex and complicated … and a good thing for society. Effective communication inevitably feeds into the minds and enlightenment of the listeners. If you dumb down communication inevitably you dumb down the listeners.
Old white men hollowed out communication. I imagine as they hollowed out everything else they found it inherently more productive to gain their objectives by hollowing out communication. Everything became soundbites, powerpoint bullet points and ‘elevator speeches.’ Effectively communicating complexity took on less importance than puncturing the mind with a quick sharp stab <and then walking away>. Old white men mastered the art of emptying communication to a point where businesses end up walking on the slippery surface of irrelevance <cloaked in a beautiful robe called “what is important for you to know.”>
Bruce McTague
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Well. I may as well fulfill my contrarian obligations immediately – nothing is simple.
Nothing.
Look. I may be wrong but I think the world would be a shitload ‘righter’ if we just assumed nothing was simple and started acting that way.
The whole idea of simple and simplicity has … well … fucked us up royally. It has almost become an obsession toward which everyone is consumed by until we are either frozen into inaction <this isn’t simple enough> or we hold our “simplicity prize” up high proudly only to find in our holy quest we discarded some essential items which would have actually helped this ‘simple idea’ live.
We all want to simplify our lives <or at least we talk about it a lot>, simplicity in thinking, simplicity in ideas and simplicity in work, and yet, as a generalization, we all seem to seek every way possible to complicate our lives.
We see simplicity as a way to solve problems and, whew, we are a certainly a ‘people’ of problem solvers <but also problem creators as a corollary>. And, yet, “it seems simple …” may be the biggest problem of all and may be one of the most misused and misguided statements and thoughts in today’s world.
A good friend of mine, an experienced communications professional, always says “if you are explaining you are losing” as an argument for simplicity. The challenge is that it, uhm, isn’t an argument for simplicity. It is actually an argument for clearly articulating what you want, and need, to articulate. In fact, as I will point out later, being too simple actually creates more confusion, therefore, simplicity could actually be creating the explaining.
<oh my>
And that is where the myth of simplification dies. It dies in truth and reality.
Simplicity reality, more often than not, consists of two opposing things – security/reliability, which anchors the sense of safety thereby justifying the common sense aspect of simplicity, & passion/risk/newness, which anchors the sense of movement thereby justifying the smartness aspect of simplicity.
Simplicity reality, more often than not, is an amalgamation of multiple fragments creating a mosaic which is pleasing to the eye <and relatively easy to grasp>.
Simplicity reality, more often than not, consists of some opposing thoughts in that, typically, if you have one… it seems you can’t have the other.
Contrary to simplicity narratives the complexity actually brings in the pragmatism of a simplistic reality <and I would argue effectiveness.>. All this means is that simplicity is rarely simple and trying to capture it in a meaningful single word or image is not only silly, but sells the depth & breadth of a decision or situation or idea or thought … or reality itself … short.
Reality is complex.
Life is complex.
Most ideas and thoughts are complex.
And there is no simple solution to complexity. Simple is hard. It is hard because sometimes, okay, most times, simplicity is arrived at by distilling complex solutions/ideas down to its most efficient form.
I would note that from my own business experience I would say that many times simplicity ideas can only be found from checking out all of the different solutions. And after sifting through everything simplicity is more often found in a “doh” moment <not an “ah ha!” moment> in that you may be surprised by the fact simplicity is just the thing that makes the most sense at the end of the day.
And why is simple THAT hard?
Well. Al Einstein said, “Make things as simple as can be—but not simpler.”
Geez.
So simple isn’t the least. It may actually be somewhere above the least and significantly below the most <complex>. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t seek simplicity. But what it does mean is that simple or simplicity shouldn’t be defined by rules or milestones or trite “say it in 10 seconds or less” dictates or, well, any boundaries.
Simplicity defines itself, it is not defined. Simplicity is reflective of the time, place, people, situation and solution needed.
Ponder that my friends.
What may make simplicity even more complex is, oddly enough, that part which should make it the simplest.
Simplicity, more often than not, is the nitty gritty stuff and not the more glamorous big vision or “big idea” stuff. It is about marrying principle and pragmatism and gradual improvement – piece by piece and part by part. To me, simple and simplicity tends to be found in shit that most people would think has nothing to do with simple:
- Coalesce fragments
“The whole is simpler than the sum of its parts.
Willard Gibbs
I think people would be much better off if they understood that while simple may be represented in ‘one thing’ it is actually representative of many things. The best of the best ‘simplicity finders’ are the ones who are the best at coalescing fragments. Gathering up disparate pieces of information and figuring out how to make them whole in a way that
- Box in complexity
Let me begin by paraphrasing a quote about how Sylvia Plath wrote…
“Whether Plath wrote about nature, or about the social restrictions on individuals, she stripped away the polite veneer. She let her writing express elemental forces and primeval fears. In doing so, she laid bare the contradictions that tore apart appearance and hinted at some of the tensions hovering just beneath the surface of the American way of life.”
Margaret Rees
I used the quote because far too many people think simplicity is about stripping away things to showcase the core instead maybe they should be thinking about stripping away the veneer so that the truth can be laid bare.
Let me explain <you will not agree with this if you do not agree that simplicity is a ‘whole made up of fragments’>.
Simplicity, to me, is about using the complex parts to box in the whole.
You either:
- Bracket what you want to offer <simplicity resides within two opposing thoughts>.
- Triangulate what you want to offer <simplicity resides in the middle>.
- Box in what you want to offer <simplicity gets squeezed into middle>.
Now. Some people may use what I just shared and say “simplicity is the distillation” and I would push back by suggesting “simplicity is reflective of all the parts as it shows the whole.”
Am I parsing words?
Maybe.
But when someone says ‘show a picture’ or ‘say it in 5 seconds or you lose them’ and be done with it = I just don’t think it is that simple. Simple stimuli are just as likely to confuse. Provide ambiguity. Generate a feeling of ‘lesser than’ <”I am missing something of value or I missed the opportunity to showcase some value”>.
— note: there is a lot of research supporting this thought —
Look. Our minds are like real estate. Space is limited and we can’t let every thought, idea, product, person or whatever have a place to stay. That means where the rubber hits the road with regard to being simple and simplicity is that it must create some connection with whomever is touching that simplicity. That connection can occur in a variety of ways <mos often thru some emotional response>.
I will end with Chopin. Chopin is one of my favorite classical composers. I seriously doubt anyone who has ever looked at any of his sheet music would suggest his music was not complex. And, yet, close your eyes and listen … it contains a simplicity that connects.
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“Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art.”
Frédéric Chopin
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All I know is that we have totally fucked up the idea of simplicity to a point where simple, or simplicity, is more a myth than reality. This myth has hollowed us out – hollowed our thinking, our communication and our culture.
Most of the worthwhile things in Life are not hollow, they have depth & breadth, well, they are, uhm, complex.
Reality is complex.
Life is complex.
Most ideas and thoughts are complex.
There is no simple solution to complexity, but I would suggest that the beauty can be found in the breakdown of the complex to its simplest form.