The Chief Uncomplicator in Charge

Think Simple: How Smart Leaders Defeat Complexity by Ken Segall, is a new book that I am reading.

These are some of take aways.

If you note, products are becoming simplified.

We are heading towards a minimized, integrated, connected, and simplified world.

With  tons of products, and  an overabundance of information to distract us, simplification serves as one type of protection.

Where good products abound, developing the next great product is not as important as developing the next great idea to utilize the products we already have.

Some of the best ideas will be to those who teach others how to simplify, and execute on their goals beautifully, and simply.

“Think big but small in everything else.” This was one of Steve Jobs ideals.

In other words, become a big thinker as possible as to your goals, but achieve them as simply and as uncomplicated as possible.

Be the king or queen of un complication.

Become the Chief Uncomplicator in Charge.

As a Bible teacher, I have observed that my hearers benefit more from a twenty-minute message where I highlight three groundbreaking points that will take them to the next level, rather than a one-hour sermon.

People only remember the one or two last things that you said, so make your points few, but super important.

Cut out fluff at your meetings.

Trim all the fat, and leave only the steak.

People don’t have time for fat and fluff.

Get back to the bare minimums of the things which really matter to you and your clients.

Steve Jobs worked with small groups of very smart people who kept things simple.

Be precise, and to the point.

Deal  immediately with the root issues and not the symptoms.

The Holy Spirit is the master of this.

Love simplicity, by sticking to your values.

Power is clarity.  Become clear and to the point in everything.

With every action you take,  develop an ever-increasing simplification, till you can’t simplify it any more.

Use the Feynman Technique as found in the Farnmamstreet blog.

• Choose a Concept: Any concept that you desire to teach others.
• Teach it to a toddler: Present it in such a way that a toddler can understand it.
• Identify gaps and go back to the source material: If there are any gaps in knowledge in what you teach, research and fill in those gaps.
• Review and simplify: Review and simplify your new material and teach it to the toddler once again.

Pay attention to fine detail in everything that you do.

It’s more important to simplify and polish what you have, rather than try for more, but be average in it.

Ensure perfection in everything.

This was Steve Jobs’s passion.

Remove and resist complexity.

Distill everything that you do to back its purest essence.

Pull back in everything you do to their essential bits.

Remove every unproductive thing.

“Peel away the layers of the onion and get to something pure and simple,” Steve Jobs

Cut to the chase, create clarity, bring out the two or things that really matter.

Execute on the things that work wonderfully for you.

Say no to many good ideas and execute only on the best.

Complicating things is a form of laziness.

Simplifying takes hard brain work.

But being the best is the only way to get the attention of a crowd which has tons of things that it can give its attention to, rather than you.