Complexity Is Easy
“Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” -Steve Jobs
As software continues to eat the world, it also eats our wallets.
Entrepreneurs unnecessarily add complexity everywhere. From the sales process to product, managing expectations, hiring, launch, and everything.
Simple Over Complex
Simplicity is the way to go from start to finish. Always simple over complex. Simplicity enables us to stay lean and continuously deliver value. A simplistic mindset breaks down building a startup into manageable components.
Ultimately, the goal is to remove unnecessary self-imposed roadblocks and crush the startup game.
There is nothing revolutionary here; it is just hard to do. Life is simple. People make it complicated.
There are no shortages of complicated processes and applications in the software industry. People love complicated. It is human nature to add twists, turns, and drama.
Our brains crave stimulation. It likes to stay busy. We tend to think something can't be this simple and believe it is more complicated than it is.
Commonly referred to as a complexity bias. Relationships, health, and software all succumb to our preferences. It is within these biases we sidestep the need to understand.
"Complexity bias is our tendency to look at something that is easy to understand or look at it when we are in a state of confusion and view it as having many parts that are difficult to understand." - Farnam Street
The problem is that complexity requires more effort to sustain it. As a result, there are more chances for a system to break down with more parts.
Simplicity, on the other hand, requires more effort to achieve. It takes mental brain power to break down a problem into its simplest components.
Take the iPhone as the quintessential example of a complex system tirelessly broken down into a simple user experience. Whether you prefer iOS or Android, the iPhone is super easy to use. Apple took a product as complex as building a smartphone and turned it into a device my mom can use like a pro. Brilliant.
Unfortunately, we don't take cues from successful companies such as Apple. Instead, our propensity to continuously fill our minds with noise creates a sense of urgency around missing the latest information.
It is this constant flow of information where we blur the line between utopia and reality.
To-Do or Not To-Do
Take our obsession with to-do lists. I quickly searched the app store and found at least 30 or more task-planning apps. Why are there so many of these apps? Utopia is that I'll be an organized ninja and cut down on each task. After failing time after time to manage the 100 things I have to do every day, I gave up and came up with a simple system.
Every day, I come up with my top three essential tasks I must finish and make sure I get those done before the end of the day. Get to my three and everything else I can adapt. I'll block time for my top three but keep a fluid schedule otherwise. Too many tasks and apps were too complicated.
I believed getting things done required an elaborate system of apps intertwined in the cloud. Instead, what I needed to get organized was a piece of paper, a pen, and my three things for the day.
Complexity sells. Simple is thought to be boring. It might be, but simplicity is also valuable and sustainable.
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." – Einstein
Complexity is free
In his book "Thank you for being late," Thomas Friedman discusses how the accelerated advancement of hardware and software over the last 20 years has allowed companies to rapidly introduce products into the market.
What took two years to develop a prototype is now reduced to a week. In addition, we can leverage three-dimensional software, 3-D printers, cloud technology, and several other advanced tools; essentially, the underlying complexity of building a product is now free.
We don't have to think about spinning a server or managing it. Just build. Money has also become more accessible through crowdfunding and the growth of venture capital.
Although Friedman explains that complexity became "fast, free, easy for you, and invisible," it also comes at a price. Our ability to build products quickly allows us to throw whatever feature we want without genuinely understanding the consequences.
We are in the age of accelerators. Computing, access to information, access to people, and everything around us is changing rapidly. Maybe this is the new norm.
After all, the software industry is only a few decades old. As Mark Zuckerberg says, perhaps this is the time to "move fast and break things."
However, I argue moving fast does not mean we should be reckless. Moving fast does not mean we should compromise our privacy and security. Moving fast does not mean we should build crappy products. Moving fast does not mean we should add complexity unnecessarily.
We should instead move thoughtfully and break the status quo.
First Principles
First principles is an effective strategy to break down ideas into their fundamental truths. Think like a scientist to understand what we know about a problem. This type of thinking can open up new ways to attack a problem.
No one today embodies first principles thinking and breaking the status quo more than Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk. Elon Musk famously said in an interview:
"I tend to approach things from a physics framework. Physics teaches you to reason from first principles rather than by analogy. So, I said, okay, let's look at the first principles. What is a rocket made of? Aerospace-grade aluminum alloys, plus some titanium, copper, and carbon fiber. Then I asked, what is the value of those materials on the commodity market? It turned out that the materials cost of a rocket was around two percent of the typical price." - Elon Musk
From Musk's viewpoint, he believed his vision to reach Mars would not be feasible with the status quo. Rockets were just too expensive, and if he understood the underlying problem of why rockets are expensive, the next logical move was to build his own.
Thus, SpaceX was born, and a fundamental difference with SpaceX rockets is they are designed to be reusable. The large fuel tanks and side boosters are discarded in a traditional space shuttle after every launch. So, knowing that fuel costs are the most expensive part of a rocket, Musk thought, why not figure out how to land the rocket safely and reuse the fuel tanks?
I'm ridiculously simplifying what Musk thought here. Notice that building and landing a reusable space shuttle is a complex project. However, Musk broke down the high cost of rockets into a simple thought—re-usable rockets. Going to Mars is about as exciting to work as possible.
Musk will admit that thinking from a first-principles perspective "takes a lot more mental energy." It is easier to explain than it is to practice.
What Musk is advocating is to break things down to their fundamental truths. In other words, get simple. Therein lies our challenge. Simple is hard to do.
Lego
Lego is a great case study of a company that chose to eliminate complexities in manufacturing and operations. Founded in 1932 and until 1998, Lego turned a profit every year until a series of self-inflicted mistakes led Lego to collapse in 2014.
Jorgen Knudstorp took over as CEO, and his principal mandate was to simplify everything at Lego. He started by reducing the number of pieces from 12,900 to 7,000. They implemented innovative manufacturing practices to reuse certain parts for different sets to reduce the cost of new molding.
By simplifying how Lego operated, it turned a nearly bankrupt company into one of the largest toy manufacturers in the world.
Lego’s turnaround illustrates a significant point about a simple mindset. There isn’t anything groundbreaking in what they did. Lego just had to think hard about its business and get creative. To “move mountains,” as Steve Jobs put it, requires us to dig deep and evaluate every service and product company aspect.
Thoughtful Startup
I wanted to take a different approach when I started a software company a few years ago. We looked at every aspect of building products and services— everything from legal to sales to engineering.
The following is a snapshot of how I have broken down various aspects of removing complexity to achieve our vision. I firmly believe if you maintain a simplistic approach, you'll not only create more value for customers, but the company can also stay lean in the process.
A Simple Culture
First and foremost, put people at the center of everything you do.
Startups struggle because we often lose sight of the goal by adding complexity. We are improving our lives through usable and enjoyable software. We make decisions to solve people's problems, not just write lines of code into a machine.
To manifest a culture around people and delightful client experiences, start with a core set of values. Values guide us through difficult times and around blind corners.
We can then begin to shape a better experience rooted in solid values. Creating a delightful experience is challenging, and I wholeheartedly agree with Musk that it requires much mental energy.
Expanding the extra mental energy to simplify is worth it every time. The alternative is the current environment where complexity sells, especially in the consulting industry with more information, abstraction, and expert hand waving.
Embrace Complexity
Experiences matter whether you are selling a product or a service. People have a myriad of options to choose from today. We should not ignore complexity but embrace it to make better decisions.
Complex products are challenging to learn and use. The iPhone wasn't the first smartphone, and Apple made it simple. However, complex products and systems are difficult to maintain and can be hazardous within specific applications such as medical and transportation.
When we know where the complexity lies, we can build products and systems and earn our complexity later.
The Journey
Implement a standard policy to evaluate and iterate. Be comfortable with changes. Iterate over perfect.
Encourage open communication and lean practices. I am a fan of fewer meetings for more focused, deep work.
Keep meetings to 30 minutes or less. I love 15-minute sessions. In Legal, develop a streamlined system to review and sign contracts quickly. I never understood why it takes months to sign an agreement.
In Sales, I'm big on conversations over pitch decks. Decks are boring.
Outline a simple pipeline and sales process. If your sales team spends more time on data entry than sales, you have a complex process problem that costs you productivity.
Excessive data is crippling. We don't need expensive salespeople updating the CRM much of their day.
In Product, bring in product managers early to sales conversations to help map out ideas. Write things down to help the entire team eliminate misunderstandings.
In Marketing, take a no-gimmicks approach. Chasing search engine rankings and clicks deviates people from the mission. Instead, focus on only a few things, such as a podcast, newsletter, and blog.
In Engineering, debate the best methods for delivering outstanding work and ask many questions. Break down a project into eight-week blocks with deliverables every two weeks.
Simplicity can’t be born from a complex engineering process. Don't just look at agile practices as the “future”; ask how you can simplify the processes and procedures while creating an exceptional experience.
Choose Simple Over Complex
All this is to say, value simplicity. But, again, there is nothing revolutionary here, just a relentless mindset to stay focused on achieving the mission.
A continuous pursuit is to choose simple over complex, provide delightful experiences, and deliver quality products.
The next generation of healthcare, transportation, education, and finance startups must be simple and effective. We owe it to the betterment of our society to build thoughtful companies.
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." Leonardo Da Vinci