Simple

I am all about simplification. Over the many years I have been in Information Technology leadership I have preached the need for simple solutions. The most sophisticated solution need not apply. I am interested in mastering the requirements necessary with the simplest solution possible. Albert Einstein said it best,

"Everything should be kept as simple as possible, but no simpler."

The additional complexity that is unnecessary only adds burden. Perhaps it makes problems more difficult to troubleshoot and elongates mean time to repair. Or perhaps it demands additional life cycle management planning that could otherwise be unnecessary. Or maybe due to tightly coupled integration, invasive technical procedures require herculean efforts for stakeholder approvals.

It is my opinion some of the more innovative web applications recently are, at their core, simple. Facebook with it's simple interface. Twitter with its 140 character messaging. I think you can even make a case for Google's search engine success with its straight forward interface and business model.

So why is it that as inventors we gravitate towards complexity?

I can't explain it, although I am sure someone out there has a theory. Perhaps it is because we attach negative associations with simplicity. We use simple as synonymous with dim witted. We refer to simplifying messages so that the uneducated can understand it. But even with my own propensity to preach this principle, I myself tend to fall into the trap of designing solutions with too much complexity. I require of myself to reduce my solutions down after I am done to identify the meaningful elements for implementation.

Simplicity ensures and requires broader understanding. It requires greater discipline to provide solutions that are elegantly simplified. In simplification, there is greater freedom.

"If you can't explain something simply, you don't understand it well enough." - Einstein