simplicity | Project Success

“It is vain to do more what can be done with less.” – William of Ockham

Have you heard this leadership quote from the creator of “Occam’s Razor”, William of Ockham?

William of Ockham was an English friar, philosopher, and theologian. He is considered to be one of the major figures of medieval thought and is most commonly known for Occam’s razor, the principle that everything should be as simple as possible, but no simpler.

Quote-Occam-vain to do more-done with less

Taking Occam’s Razor a Step Further

This quote takes William of Ockham’s thoughts a step further. Not only has he said that everything should be as simple as possible, but he actually states that it is simply vain to do more what can be done with less.

In other words, if you are using a million dollars to build a product when it could be built for $1,000, he considers this vain. Others may not be so lenient – they may instead consider it just plain stupid.

Occam’s Razor and The Lean Startup

This is the also concept of the Minimum Viable Product or MVP from the Lean Startup. An MVP is the most minimal, usable feature that you can build and release to your customers so they can see, feel and touch it. Then, but seeing what they like or don’t like, and also seeing whether anyone actually cares enough to buy it, you are able to determine whether to build more, create more features, or to pivot into a new or different idea.

Simplicity Means Fewer Defect and Mistakes

By reducing things to their most simple form, we’re also reducing the opportunity for mistakes, breakages and defects. How many times have you bought something fancy and complicated, only for it to break and then cost you the earth or fix or replace? When a simple version of the same item may not have been as “cool”, but it lasts you for years and years and years.

Can you think of ways to simplify your work, your products or your life?

– David McLachlan

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“It is always the simple that produces the marvelous.” – Amelia Barr

Have you heard this leadership quote from Amelia Barr?

Amelia Barr was a writer and teacher from Britain who lived in the late 1800s to early 1900s. When she was only nine years old she had to read for her father, and developed her reading and comprehension well beyond her years. As an adult she learned the Stowe teaching method, whose principles are based on morality and lifelong learning.

Leadership Quote-Amelia Barr-Simple-Marvelous

Simplicity is a Powerful Thing

People often get simplicity confused with ease. the two are not the same. For something to be simple, often we have to cut things out of it, and reduce things to their essential form or qualities, and this is actually quite hard for human beings to do.

But the power of simplicity is that fewer things can go wrong, and there are fewer things to overload our senses or confuse our target audience. When you are able to focus on just one thing, there is a much higher likelihood it will get done, as opposed to switching tasks and having to get up to speed on each task again.

The iPhone made things exceptionally simple for its users. It famously only had one button, and the rest was a simple touch of the screen. Before this it was computers with full keyboards and often complicated navigation.

Amazon also made things simple, when they were the first company to patent the “One Click Buy” button, which had all the relevant customer details saved so a customer only needed to focus on the thing that made Amazon money – the point where the customer bought it.

Ask yourself – “How can I make things more simple in my life, in my organisation, in my team and in my product?”

– David McLachlan

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