Three little words, keep it simple – packed with power in their simplicity. Edward de Bono in his book, Simplicity, writes, “There is often a much simpler way of doing things – if you make the effort to look for it. Simplicity does not just happen.” However, simple does not necessarily mean easy.
De Bono continues, “Errors are not acceptable but the search for ultimate perfection may add more complexity than it is worth.” He goes on to remind us that “The mind may have better ideas when it is not trying to have better ideas.”
Towards the end of the book, de Bono introduces The Ten Rules of Simplicity. Rule 10 says “You need to know for whose sake the simplicity is being designed.” Are we simplifying things so it is easier for the team to deliver the project, or are we simplifying things so it is easier for the ‘customer’ to use the product being delivered?
Several years ago I was managing a software delivery project. I was fortunate to have the leading software developers from the organisation on my team. For legal and compliance reasons we had a hard date to meet. As a result, I knew I somehow had to persuade my team to focus on delivering an acceptable solution, which may not necessarily be the most superior solution – utility rather than complexity.
The analogy I came up with was that we are not building an expensive muscle-car or luxury vehicle, instead we are building a simple, practical, elegant car – a Holden Barina™ (convertible) rather than a Rolls Royce. To my surprise and delight, the next day, as I walked into the project team room, there was a printed photo of a red Holden Barina (convertible) taped to the wall of the room. One of my team members had used their initiative to put up the photo, as a constant reminder to the team – to remain focused on what we are building. The team readily embraced the concept of building a simple, yet practical solution, probably because the photo idea came from one of them – rather than me trying to lord it over them.
“Rethink without over-thinking”
GAICD, M.Comp (Monash)
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