Of all the traits we value in the modern world, simplicity might be one of the most important. It’s a common idea that “less is more”, but how much does simplicity really affect the products we use and the services we rely on?
As Leonardo da Vinci noted, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
Let’s explore how simplicity is central to all forms of work, and how this applies to businesses.
Nearly Every Job Turns the Complex Into the Simple
When you think about it, nearly every job is focused on taking something that’s complex and making it simple. For example:
- Teachers take concepts that are new and foreign to students and relate them to what they’ve already learned, simplifying the unknown.
- Writers sort through confusing piles of information and communicate it in the simplest terms so that other people can understand it more easily.
- A financial planner takes the complex worlds of investments, debt, saving, and more and simplifies them into a plan unique for each situation.
- Musicians take complex chords, scales, rhythm, plus lyrics and vocal performance, and combine them into one song that’s simple to listen to.
- IT service providers make technology, which is often quite complex, simple to understand. They also create specific plans for every company they serve.
Indeed, when one sees an expert making quick work of a task, it’s common to exclaim that they make it look easy. When you’re great at the work you do, you make the activities look so simple to the casual observer, even when they’re really not.
IT’s Simplicity Comes From Applying Best Practices
As mentioned above, this concept applies to IT service providers. The degree to which a provider’s best practices have matured is the degree to which they can provide great results. IT is vast and complex. Configuring and performing IT in a certain way, consistently, and for all clients reduces that complexity to the benefit of everyone. Like any other profession, experience and knowledge crafts these guidelines, processes, and procedures that balance keeping our clients’ infrastructure running smoothly at a reasonable cost.
A great IT provider will take the complex and make it simple for you.
Trusted Services Help You Simplify Your Product
When you drive a car, you don’t need to understand the inner workings of the engine to use it properly. The complexity of a vehicle’s design boils down to the simplicity of turning the key and steering with the wheel.
It’s a similar story with your business. Whether your company deals in products or services, it can become more efficient by trusting services that make non-essential elements more simple.
You don’t need to understand every complex detail of how a shipping company delivers your packages, for instance. Knowing they’ll be delivered properly when you leave them in the drop-off spot is enough simplicity for your workflow.
Trying to do everything yourself leaves you no time to simplify your own offerings and create a better product. Outsourcing these complex tasks to trusted companies who make them simple on your end enables you to focus on what you do best.
People Want the Simplest Option
The majority of people want a simple choice over one that’s more complex.
Apple’s business model is a great example of this. Despite the high cost, simplicity is often the reason people choose an Apple product over a competitor. They might prefer the easier user interface of a Mac to a Windows machine, or opt for an iPhone because they find Android devices too confusing.
Often, the product that enjoys the most success is the simplest. Anyone could pick up the original iPod and figure out how to navigate in a few seconds at a time when every other music player was exceedingly hard to operate.
The finishing details of your product are important. Few people will be interested in a product that takes 20 minutes to explain, but a simple product will attract attention.
No matter what field you work in, consider how your job turns complexity into simplicity, and how you can market this valuable process to your customers.