CHAPTER 18
Complexity Is Out—Simplicity Is In
(Less Is More)
Vignette: It Is Too Complicated
Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, an eighteenth-century French poet and critic, wrote, Ce que l’on conçoit bien s’énonce clairement et les mots pour le dire arrivent aisément.
Translated loosely, it means: “What we understand well we can explain clearly and the words to express it come easily.”
When people tell me, “It is too complicated to explain,” I think that they probably do not understand themselves what they are trying to “explain.”
As I review new business ideas coming from young entrepreneurs, I find that they often develop very complex systems, processes, or procedures, maybe hoping (falsely) that these complexities will protect their ideas from copycats. ...
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