Simpleminded Simplicity vs Complex Simplicity

I don’t want simpleminded simplicity, I want complex simplicity.

No one is against simplicity–we all want things to be simple. Sir Isaac Newton said it this way, “Nature is pleased with simplicity. And nature is no dummy.” Perhaps the acronym KISS comes from nature after all: Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Genius successor to Newton, Albert Einstein, was careful to differentiate simplemindedness and simplicity. “Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler,” he said.

This is because simplicity is best on the other side of complexity, not on THIS SIDE of it. Complexity implies confusion, and simplicity implies clarity. However, simplicity on THIS SIDE of complexity is just naiveté, simplemindedness, or just plain stupidity.

Simplicity must be sought THROUGH complexity, so it is informed by all the many dynamics that make problems clear and solutions sound. Simplicity on the OTHER SIDE of complexity is wisdom, and that is what I really want.

Some people provide complex answers to complex questions, you might call them technicians. Others provide simple answers to simple questions, and you might call them helpdesk personnel. Then there are those that provide simple answers to complex questions, we might call them geniuses. And, of course, there are those that provide complex answers to simple questions, and you might find yourself calling them boring jerks.

Those that have lived in a complex problem for a long time are best equipped to provide the simple answers that transform understanding. Many schoolchildren can tell you who Albert Einstein is and write the equation “E = mc²” on a whiteboard. It is a very simple equation, though its genius lies not in its brevity, but its brevity as symbols that contain, in all their compactness, all the complexity Einstein published over the course of a year in the journal Annalen der Physik. It is as simple as possible, but not simpler, Einstein would say.

Complexity-informed simplicity is where the genius lies. This is what pulls me out of an endless cycle of branding and word-smithing, and into the world of true vision that catapults me forward. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes started me down this path by saying, “For the simplicity that lies this side of complexity, I would not give a fig, but for the simplicity that lies on the other side of complexity, I would give my life.”

This is why I find myself asking “have I asked the truly complex question and tried to investigate it in all its facets?” If not, I have hard work to do, before the catch-phrases come out. The crystal clear simplicity will then come later, and with much greater conviction than just sounding cool.

So, the next time you find yourself wanting to skip the hard part and just come up with a catchy slogan, stick with it. Go THROUGH complexity, and when you come out on the other side, perhaps you’ll find yourself offering a complex simplicity that transforms the way you and others see things.