Keep It Simple

In a complex world, simplicity is important.
With so many things competing for people's attention, the more
basic you can make something, the better.
Simplicity is why slogans can be so important.
When you hear "Just do it," you think of the Nike brand and all
the things that go along with it – Michael Jordan, air, running,
high quality, high performance, innovation, and so on. The power
of those three little words can be incredible.
When you see several brochures, which one are
you more likely to pick up – the brochure with lots of words
written in tiny print, or the brochure with a bold background and
only a few key words? The more simple the message, the more impact
it can have – and the more likely it will be to attract someone's
attention.
Details are never in short supply. People
typically look for details after something grabs their interest.
To get them interested, though, you need to take a simple
approach.
When Less is More
It's hard to be simple. There's so much you
want to communicate, and you don't want to leave anything out.
What people tend to forget is that to effectively communicate
something, you need to first cut it down to the basics.
Let's look at the following paragraph:
Essentially, the important message that you really need to
understand is that less can be quite a bit more. When you think of
something like sentence structure, when it actually comes down to
it, the fewer words you use, the much better the sentence is
likely to be. Pretty much when you have better sentences, you have
a much improved understanding.
WHAT? OK, let's reword and shorten that last paragraph to show you
simplicity in action:
Less can be more. In a sentence, for example, fewer words can
lead to better understanding.
Which paragraph do you prefer and understand better?

The KISS principle is commonly used to communicate this concept.
KISS stands for "Keep It Simple, Stupid." Other variations are
"Keep It Simple, Silly", "Keep It Short and Sweet" and "Keep It
Simple, Sweetheart" (thanks to club member HeatherN for the last,
much more humane version!) Regardless of how you spell it out, the
message is powerfully simple.
But KISS isn't only useful in communication, it's important in
design and thinking: The more complex things get, the fewer the
people who can understand them. What's more, it's more likely that
mistakes will be made, that key factors will be overlooked, or
that something will go wrong.
As well as this, a conscious preference for simplicity helps to
combat the natural tendency to trip ourselves up by being "too
clever for our own good." (Click here for our article on humility if this is a danger!)
The KISS Principle
There are opportunities all around us to practice the KISS
principle. Whether you're making products easy to use,
streamlining processes, or communicating important information, a
simple approach is often the most efficient and most effective.
A question that often comes up is this: "If being simple is so
effective, then why don't we see it more often?" The answer is
that making things simple is not about reducing or doing less just
to get rid of volume or quantity. It's about breaking things down
to clarify and get to the real meaning, which takes a lot of
thought and analysis.
Simple does not necessarily equal less, and it doesn't mean
superficial or dull. Simple is the absence of unnecessary
elements. The challenge is to figure out what's unnecessary.
For example, creating charts and graphs may take more effort than
writing a summary. Think about the impact of the end result. The
phrase "a picture speaks a thousand words" is clear evidence of
the power of KISS.
Using KISS at Work
Choose your words carefully in written communications , including
when you try to write effective emails :

Be clear about what you want to say.
Use headings and bullets to stress key information.
Proofread your work, and take out words and information that don't add value.

Format your communication pieces effectively:

Use lots of white space.
Highlight or underline key words and concepts, or use bold formatting.
Know your audience and your objective, and develop your communication accordingly.


Create simple and effective presentations :

Keep information short and direct.
Create visual aids that are clean and easy to read.
Use handouts to present detail.
Minimize distractions to keep your audience focused.


Focus your problem solving:

Use root cause analysis techniques to put the problem in the
right perspective.
Use continuous improvement to simplify your systems and
processes.
Create support systems that encourage people to look for
opportunities to improve efficiency. See our article on Kanban and Just In Time for examples.


Remember to stay humble; don't be too arrogant or assertive.
Otherwise, when you want to prove yourself, you may risk doing too
much. If you don't know when to stop talking in a meeting, or if
you try too hard to convince someone how clever you are, you may
end up looking foolish.
Show that you're really clever by telling people what they need to
know quickly and simply – people who try to stretch or exaggerate
their knowledge or skills may take forever to say very little. The
volume of what you say, write, or do is far less important than
the value you communicate in the process.

Key Points
Keeping it simple is not necessarily easy. You have to think and
plan what you want to say or do, and you have to understand why
you're saying or doing it. When you're highly focused on the
output or results of your efforts, you can adapt your actions to
your specific objective and the elements that are most important.
Details have a time and place. However, if you get stuck in
details too early, it can make you less efficient and make your
message difficult to understand. By keeping it simple, you can
have the greatest impact and create the most value. Don't try to
say or do everything – concentrate more on what really needs to be
said or done.
When you can change something complex into something simple,
you've really added value!

Apply This to Your Life
Think about situations at the office
where you're feeling overwhelmed and overworked. Can you
think of ways to simplify how you do the work? Are there any
functions or steps that you can eliminate? And does this
allow you to delegate work that you'd otherwise have to do
yourself?
When you prepare your next memo or
report, remember the KISS principle. Look for ways to
shorten and focus your message. Figure out what will capture
your audience's attention. Reduce your message to the
basics, and let your audience ask questions later.
When you sit down to solve problems, use
the 5 Whys technique as one of your first approaches. Find
the root cause, and simplify the problem as much as possible.