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Simple: Conquering the Crisis of Complexity
For decades, Alan Siegel and Irene Etzkorn have championed simplicity as a competitive advantage and a consumer right. Consulting with businesses and organizations around the world to streamline products, services, processes and communications, they have achieved dramatic results.
In Simple , the culmination of their work together, Siegel and Etzkorn show us how having empathy, striving for clarity, and distilling your message can reduce the distance between company and customer, hospital and patient, government and citizen-and increase your bottom line.
Examining the best and worst practices of an array of organizations big and small-including the IRS, Google, Philips, Trader Joe's, Chubb Insurance, and ING Direct, and many more-Siegel and Etzkorn recast simplicity as a mindset, a design aesthetic, and a writing technique.
In these illuminating pages you will discover, among other things:
By exposing the overly complex things we encounter every day, SIMPLE reveals the reasons we allow confusion to persist, inspires us to seek clarity, and explores how social media is empowering consumers to demand simplicity.
The next big idea in business is Simple .
In Simple , the culmination of their work together, Siegel and Etzkorn show us how having empathy, striving for clarity, and distilling your message can reduce the distance between company and customer, hospital and patient, government and citizen-and increase your bottom line.
Examining the best and worst practices of an array of organizations big and small-including the IRS, Google, Philips, Trader Joe's, Chubb Insurance, and ING Direct, and many more-Siegel and Etzkorn recast simplicity as a mindset, a design aesthetic, and a writing technique.
In these illuminating pages you will discover, among other things:
By exposing the overly complex things we encounter every day, SIMPLE reveals the reasons we allow confusion to persist, inspires us to seek clarity, and explores how social media is empowering consumers to demand simplicity.
The next big idea in business is Simple .
256 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2012
55 people are currently reading
582 people want to read
About the author
Alan M. Siegel
19 books4 followersAlan Siegel is one of the best-known figure in the branding industry and a longtime advocate of clarity and simplicity in communications. In 2011 Alan created Siegelvision, a new strategic branding and communications consultancy that champions clarity above all. Alan is also the founder and chairman emeritus of global branding agency Siegel and Gale.
Alan Siegel founded Siegel and Gale in 1969, and over the course of forty years transformed it from a small consultancy into one of the most respected branding firms in the world. While at Siegel and Gale, Alan helped define some of the most iconic brands of our time, working with clients like the NBA, Xerox, American Express, Caterpillar, The Girl Scouts, and many others. Always an innovator, Alan developed the concept of a Brand Voice ™ and was one of the first in the industry to use the Internet as a tool for brand communication. Throughout his entire career, Alan has always been a proponent of clarity and simplicity, and has sought to apply those principles to all of his work
Having experienced the power of clarity in branding, Alan became a major figure in the Plain English movement during the 1970s, and worked with dozens of major financial institutions, the Census Bureau and the IRS to simplify complex legal and financial documents. Alan has written extensively on this subject for the New York Times, The Huffington Post and the National Law Journal, and has talked about simplification on Today, The McNeil-Lehrer Report, CNN and CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, and ABC News with Peter Jennings. Throughout his career, Alan has lectured at major business conferences and universities around the world, and he was a featured speaker at the TED Conference in 2010
To further the cause of clarity, Alan brought his ideas to college classrooms. He served as an adjunct professor of law at Fordham University Law School for several years, where he created and taught a course on writing contracts in plain English, and as an adjunct associate professor at Carnegie Mellon where he cofounded the Communications Design Center.
Although Alan no longer teaches, his desire to give back didn't end with his foray into education. He currently sits on the boards of several foundations and community organizations, including the Museum of Arts and Design, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the Nathaniel Wharton Foundation at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, and the American Theater Wing, where he is a Tony voter.
Alan is the author of a series of personal financial guides for the Wall Street Journal, including the bestseller The Wall Street Journal Guide to Money and Markets. He is also the author of two books of photography, One Man's Eye: photographs from the Alan Siegel Collection and Step Right This Way: The Photographs of Edward J. Kelty. In 2006, Louis Slovinsky authored Alan Siegel on Branding and Clear Communications, a biography on Alan, his legacy, and his philosophy.
Alan Siegel founded Siegel and Gale in 1969, and over the course of forty years transformed it from a small consultancy into one of the most respected branding firms in the world. While at Siegel and Gale, Alan helped define some of the most iconic brands of our time, working with clients like the NBA, Xerox, American Express, Caterpillar, The Girl Scouts, and many others. Always an innovator, Alan developed the concept of a Brand Voice ™ and was one of the first in the industry to use the Internet as a tool for brand communication. Throughout his entire career, Alan has always been a proponent of clarity and simplicity, and has sought to apply those principles to all of his work
Having experienced the power of clarity in branding, Alan became a major figure in the Plain English movement during the 1970s, and worked with dozens of major financial institutions, the Census Bureau and the IRS to simplify complex legal and financial documents. Alan has written extensively on this subject for the New York Times, The Huffington Post and the National Law Journal, and has talked about simplification on Today, The McNeil-Lehrer Report, CNN and CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, and ABC News with Peter Jennings. Throughout his career, Alan has lectured at major business conferences and universities around the world, and he was a featured speaker at the TED Conference in 2010
To further the cause of clarity, Alan brought his ideas to college classrooms. He served as an adjunct professor of law at Fordham University Law School for several years, where he created and taught a course on writing contracts in plain English, and as an adjunct associate professor at Carnegie Mellon where he cofounded the Communications Design Center.
Although Alan no longer teaches, his desire to give back didn't end with his foray into education. He currently sits on the boards of several foundations and community organizations, including the Museum of Arts and Design, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the Nathaniel Wharton Foundation at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, and the American Theater Wing, where he is a Tony voter.
Alan is the author of a series of personal financial guides for the Wall Street Journal, including the bestseller The Wall Street Journal Guide to Money and Markets. He is also the author of two books of photography, One Man's Eye: photographs from the Alan Siegel Collection and Step Right This Way: The Photographs of Edward J. Kelty. In 2006, Louis Slovinsky authored Alan Siegel on Branding and Clear Communications, a biography on Alan, his legacy, and his philosophy.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
May 16, 2013
It was a quick, easy read. I *really* like the idea, but the book was pretty light on actionable recommendations and content. The three principles of simplicity (empathize, distill, clarify) resonated with me, and it's definitely a good framework for approaching simplification. I think the authors spent a bit too much time trying to convince us that simplification is good, and not enough explaining how they feel you can be a driver of simplification (beyond being the President of your company, or Mayor of New York City.)
July 4, 2013
I got some good ideas for work from this book. The authors have a special passion for clear writing and they demonstrate how much simpler forms like credit card agreements really could be. Eye opening.
May 6, 2018
Книга про простоту, но замудреная. Идея норм, а вот ее описание подкачало. Еще русский перевод ужасный и кривой.
March 24, 2020
The book is a very good starting point for changing our thinking towards simplicity to achive success in many parts of our lives.
December 7, 2022
Interesting from beginning to end. This is not a book about simplifying your everyday life. This is a book about how simplifying can make our world more accessible and intentional. Because it’s written from the perspective of people who help business, etc. do this better, don’t read this thinking it will give you practical advice on decluttering your house or you’ll be disappointed.
June 9, 2014
It is hard to make things (look) simple. Good book on that quest. I also like the "just do it" mentality of the book.
Factoids:
Simplicity = Empathize (need of other) + Distill (boil down & customize)+ Clarify (easy to use)
Empathy pays: Customer experience and profitability: empathy rating index (ERIC) in UK call centres - p.77 http://bit.ly/1ih6UrC
“Google has the guts to give consumers less, even when they ask for more” - page 81
p.94: Cited: A Store With Only 3 Products And Other Cases For Simplicity http://www.fastcompany.com/1776924/st...
p.102: "Don't assume that by giving your customers "more", you're doing them any favors. When you distill an offering down to its essence - even though it may seem on the surface that you're asking people to settle for less choice- you're apt to provide a purer, simpler, more satisfying experience"
p.120 (German insurance company) ERGO is counting on the simplicity paradox""- the less you tell people, the more they understand.[e.g. of their policy]
p.134 [on laws and rules]: "They should set the goal, not dictate the path"
p.135 Fully 84% of all consumers say they are more likely to trust a company that uses jargon-free, plain English in communications http://www.siegelgale.com/media_relea... and http://www.docstoc.com/docs/125175647...
p.143 “Sometimes the only way to convince people that things can be simplified is just to go ahead and simplify them”
P.144 Citing Buffet (2009; http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/lett...
Selecting the S&P 500 as our bogey was an easy choice because our shareholders, at virtually no cost, can match its performance by holding an index fund. Why should they pay us for merely duplicating that result?
p.146 As texts become more complicated, readers give lower score to intelligence of writer.
Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly (2005) http://www.ucd.ie/artspgs/semantics/C...
p.168: Value naïveté (to circumvent the curse of knowledge)
p.188: Call for clarity (http://www.callforclarity.com)
"We must powerfully exert our influence as consumers and citizens"
p.193 "Demand real transparency [...] we support calls for greater disclosure [...] none of this will help unless we insist that the information disclosed is relevant, streamlined, well organized, designed and visualized for greater clarity, supported by relevant examples, and written in plain language"
Factoids:
Simplicity = Empathize (need of other) + Distill (boil down & customize)+ Clarify (easy to use)
Empathy pays: Customer experience and profitability: empathy rating index (ERIC) in UK call centres - p.77 http://bit.ly/1ih6UrC
“Google has the guts to give consumers less, even when they ask for more” - page 81
p.94: Cited: A Store With Only 3 Products And Other Cases For Simplicity http://www.fastcompany.com/1776924/st...
p.102: "Don't assume that by giving your customers "more", you're doing them any favors. When you distill an offering down to its essence - even though it may seem on the surface that you're asking people to settle for less choice- you're apt to provide a purer, simpler, more satisfying experience"
p.120 (German insurance company) ERGO is counting on the simplicity paradox""- the less you tell people, the more they understand.[e.g. of their policy]
p.134 [on laws and rules]: "They should set the goal, not dictate the path"
p.135 Fully 84% of all consumers say they are more likely to trust a company that uses jargon-free, plain English in communications http://www.siegelgale.com/media_relea... and http://www.docstoc.com/docs/125175647...
p.143 “Sometimes the only way to convince people that things can be simplified is just to go ahead and simplify them”
P.144 Citing Buffet (2009; http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/lett...
Selecting the S&P 500 as our bogey was an easy choice because our shareholders, at virtually no cost, can match its performance by holding an index fund. Why should they pay us for merely duplicating that result?
p.146 As texts become more complicated, readers give lower score to intelligence of writer.
Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly (2005) http://www.ucd.ie/artspgs/semantics/C...
p.168: Value naïveté (to circumvent the curse of knowledge)
p.188: Call for clarity (http://www.callforclarity.com)
"We must powerfully exert our influence as consumers and citizens"
p.193 "Demand real transparency [...] we support calls for greater disclosure [...] none of this will help unless we insist that the information disclosed is relevant, streamlined, well organized, designed and visualized for greater clarity, supported by relevant examples, and written in plain language"
September 25, 2017
An ambitious book with a clear, simple message. Unfortunately, most of the book tried to convince me that simplicity is necessary, rather than suggest how to do things simply. The technological examples are a little dated for 2017 as well (though this is no fault of the authors').
September 3, 2018
Книга рассказывает о важности максимально простого изложения данных и организации процессов. Но очень мало говорится о том, как это сделать.
January 15, 2023
A simple book on simplicity.
The primary voice in this book is from Alan Siegel, who has made a career for himself as a promoter and designer of “simple” brand images. There are numerous references to the authors’ experience on past projects and numerous links to a project called “call for clarity” — all of which now redirect to Siegel’s website. It seems as though there might be some philosophizing of self promotion going on here, but it seems to me to be the voice of someone who cares genuinely about their craft and wants you to enjoy it as much as they do.
That being said, as a software engineer and systems specialists, I find the book’s problem statement thoroughly compelling without much persuasion. The authors claim that society is in the process of “folding in on itself” on account of unchecked complexity. The solution is a set of heuristics practiced by the authors and supported by research and authoritative quotes (Steve Jobs is cited several times as an exemplary “simplicity warrior”). I was able to come away with a number of useful heuristics and quotes that I would like to remember. Certainly, the principles found in the book aren’t revolutionary, but it makes for an interesting and concise perspective. I would recommend it to anyone actively engaged in marketing or product design, as well as to anyone looking to improve their communication skills.
The primary voice in this book is from Alan Siegel, who has made a career for himself as a promoter and designer of “simple” brand images. There are numerous references to the authors’ experience on past projects and numerous links to a project called “call for clarity” — all of which now redirect to Siegel’s website. It seems as though there might be some philosophizing of self promotion going on here, but it seems to me to be the voice of someone who cares genuinely about their craft and wants you to enjoy it as much as they do.
That being said, as a software engineer and systems specialists, I find the book’s problem statement thoroughly compelling without much persuasion. The authors claim that society is in the process of “folding in on itself” on account of unchecked complexity. The solution is a set of heuristics practiced by the authors and supported by research and authoritative quotes (Steve Jobs is cited several times as an exemplary “simplicity warrior”). I was able to come away with a number of useful heuristics and quotes that I would like to remember. Certainly, the principles found in the book aren’t revolutionary, but it makes for an interesting and concise perspective. I would recommend it to anyone actively engaged in marketing or product design, as well as to anyone looking to improve their communication skills.
April 25, 2018
Essentially this book explains over and over again that legalese and corporate speak is bad, and clear and human readable communication is good. It touches a bit on design and tells big corporations that they should be more simple. It seems the authors have good experience in this area, but are no experts.
Nothing profound here. Nothing that anyone that is mildly interested in design and communication is not already aware of.
It does inspire me to review FAQ's and terms and conditions of various projects, with the upcoming GDPR rules. Let's be clear about it.
Some last takeaways are: keep it simple, it adds value to your products and services. Keep it simple, it cuts costs. Keep it simple, it makes you trustworthy.
Nothing profound here. Nothing that anyone that is mildly interested in design and communication is not already aware of.
It does inspire me to review FAQ's and terms and conditions of various projects, with the upcoming GDPR rules. Let's be clear about it.
Some last takeaways are: keep it simple, it adds value to your products and services. Keep it simple, it cuts costs. Keep it simple, it makes you trustworthy.
May 11, 2018
Ever wondered why bank forms are difficult to understand? Because banks choose to safeguard themselves from possible lawsuit and financial penalties instead of providing customers with simple terms for their products. Actually, they can do both. That is one of the insights I got from the book. The authors explained why simplicity is hard (yet achievable), and how to get there. Several chapters feels too similar with each other but the examples provided are simply thought-provoking. A fine reminder on why complexity is winning and why it should lose to simplicity
November 14, 2022
A simple framework for simplicity. Coming from an engineering background, this resonates deeply with me. Although examples given may be dated and/or not applicable, I believe this book serves as a good bases for design and development for product-service systems. The book also explores design issues for contracts, terms, and written-based products. Would recommend for people interested in product development, system designs, and policy makers alike!
January 23, 2024
This book had so much potential, but fell short at delivering anything of significance. After reading the first two chapters, I expected a masterpiece. Instead, the author kept repackaging the same concepts for the remainder of the book. Would’ve been a great read had the author embraced SIMPLICITY & DISTILLED the gobbledygook down to the key points (~100 pages max to allow for extensive case studies. Otherwise, it could’ve been <10 pages).
December 13, 2017
In honor of this book, I will keep my review simple. It was a decent read, it's something that I would love to see more places strive for. The case studies were intriguing. On the inside I'm laughing because the person who recommended this book to me, didn't always see eye to eye with me when I would recommend some things would be improved if they were simplified.
July 12, 2019
The topic was very clear - making things simple will help the business. The book doesn't, however, present the other side and cite cases where complexity has helped make a business better. Presenting the other side and goving arguments as to why simplicity is still the winner would have painted the whole picture and make the argument less one-sided
February 14, 2018
Certainly a great read. I recommend this book due to it's simple approach on how any service should be simple and not complicated. With more complexity comes greater disadvantages for people and when an emphatic approach is made, life would be better for everyone.
March 1, 2023
I enjoy simple words, sentence and explanation just like how I enjoy reading this book. To explain well and get the message across to the readers, the author empathise, distill and clarify before penning it down. Good examples with great description and very convincing narration!
January 20, 2018
It seems like such a common sense book, but also desperately needed in this time of expanding complexity in every facet of life.
February 16, 2018
no need to read the whole book if you get the idea of how to make your actions, processess & life simple.
January 18, 2019
Idea was good. Probably should have been a blog article
May 22, 2019
Есть несколько интересных примеров упрощения продуктов, но по существу вода для привлечения внимания к деятельности авторов.
July 27, 2020
Interesting read but quite forgettable...
December 15, 2022
Excellent read for SWEs. Makes me think differently when building a product
January 10, 2024
This book does not need to be this long. Half of its length should be fine.
June 3, 2025
Loved this title. It helped reshape my relationship with communication and design.
March 15, 2014
I have mixed feeling about this book about dealing with complexity; while there is nothing wrong or untrue with the authors' case studies and advice I quite often found myself thinking "this not quite the whole truth". The book is an excellent (if somewhat extreme) application of the simplicity principles the authors preach for novice users but is very narrowly focused in the legal, financial and government services industry with little application in the more complex technical industries.
The authors of the book are self-styled crusaders for battling unnecessary complexity in information presentation, be it deliberately obfuscation or well meaning but unintentional information overload. The advice is sound; I really struggled when I first had to distill quite complex engineering designs and installation options into language and chunks that non-technical managers could read - this book would have helped me greatly.
So far all good and very useful. This should have shaped up as 4 or 5 star must read for anyone in writing user interface documents: what went wrong? In short, the authors have slapped together what is at best an end of career cash in on their niche that is now en vogue, or at worst a snake oil sales pitch with potential harmful side effects to the unwary.
1) The "simplified" co-authorship use of the term "we" when it was separate writers combining sections was clunky. I could spot the 2 voices very easily and it was clear to see why some sites only put Alan Siegel as the single author and leave off Irene Etzkrom.
2) The over-simplify concepts that there is "extra revenue" that can be gained from simplified, clear policy options and products. The full picture is a lot more complex than this, even in the narrow field the authors hoe: not all consumers will benefit from, or be able to access, premimum "simplified" services, and; depending on the maturity of market not all service providers will gain benefit from restructuring to provide simplified services to customers. To not explore this further and explain the limitations comes across as ignorant or untruthful - either is very damaging to the argument when you are supposed to be pitching at a financially savvy audience.
3) "42" - They give the answer without discussing the question. The book is quite shallow, repetitious and filled with quotes about simplicity but gives very little time to issue of underlying complexity. This where my personal bias comes in; I am an engineer involved in maintaining and training personnel to interface with complex systems and I have side interest in "Complex System Theory". This book assumes that complexity can be distilled away or hidden, which is mostly true for the field the authors take their case studies from but not in my world where the simplifying and dumbing down tasks and interaction has disasterous consequences.
4) Hiding the "unnecessary" details from uneducated people. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." (Clarke's 3rd Law of Prediction). When uneducated people see a process as "magic" and something goes wrong they tend start witch hunts. As long as people are aware that they part of a complex chain and some notion of what goes on upstream and downstream of them they will be more likely to be helpful when things go wrong.
To sum it up the authors are proven technicians in making money (for themselves and others) by removing unnecessary complexity for interactions with public and have produced a very unbalanced and incomplete book about dealing with complexity. I would recommend this book with caution to financially savvy people who won't drink the Kool-Aid offered, but instead pick the useful lessons and advice and apply them judiciously to their own work.
The authors of the book are self-styled crusaders for battling unnecessary complexity in information presentation, be it deliberately obfuscation or well meaning but unintentional information overload. The advice is sound; I really struggled when I first had to distill quite complex engineering designs and installation options into language and chunks that non-technical managers could read - this book would have helped me greatly.
So far all good and very useful. This should have shaped up as 4 or 5 star must read for anyone in writing user interface documents: what went wrong? In short, the authors have slapped together what is at best an end of career cash in on their niche that is now en vogue, or at worst a snake oil sales pitch with potential harmful side effects to the unwary.
1) The "simplified" co-authorship use of the term "we" when it was separate writers combining sections was clunky. I could spot the 2 voices very easily and it was clear to see why some sites only put Alan Siegel as the single author and leave off Irene Etzkrom.
2) The over-simplify concepts that there is "extra revenue" that can be gained from simplified, clear policy options and products. The full picture is a lot more complex than this, even in the narrow field the authors hoe: not all consumers will benefit from, or be able to access, premimum "simplified" services, and; depending on the maturity of market not all service providers will gain benefit from restructuring to provide simplified services to customers. To not explore this further and explain the limitations comes across as ignorant or untruthful - either is very damaging to the argument when you are supposed to be pitching at a financially savvy audience.
3) "42" - They give the answer without discussing the question. The book is quite shallow, repetitious and filled with quotes about simplicity but gives very little time to issue of underlying complexity. This where my personal bias comes in; I am an engineer involved in maintaining and training personnel to interface with complex systems and I have side interest in "Complex System Theory". This book assumes that complexity can be distilled away or hidden, which is mostly true for the field the authors take their case studies from but not in my world where the simplifying and dumbing down tasks and interaction has disasterous consequences.
4) Hiding the "unnecessary" details from uneducated people. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." (Clarke's 3rd Law of Prediction). When uneducated people see a process as "magic" and something goes wrong they tend start witch hunts. As long as people are aware that they part of a complex chain and some notion of what goes on upstream and downstream of them they will be more likely to be helpful when things go wrong.
To sum it up the authors are proven technicians in making money (for themselves and others) by removing unnecessary complexity for interactions with public and have produced a very unbalanced and incomplete book about dealing with complexity. I would recommend this book with caution to financially savvy people who won't drink the Kool-Aid offered, but instead pick the useful lessons and advice and apply them judiciously to their own work.
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October 26, 2016
This book was written by a person who has devoted his professional life to make complicated writings simpler and simpler. In this book, he mentions his business a lot, and how they are dedicated to make the legal and banking documentation, among other pieces of dry literature, more understandable for the layman.
He explains for example, how they succeeded in making the definition of default more readable for the actual user (the client) From a plethora of pages saying a lot of things, they extracted the main message: "I will be in default if I do not pay or if someone else wants to take my money". Interesting remark that the bank has not thought itself about a simpler approach to the documentation.
Here are two images with information about the book cover an jacket:
Psst! I have a Goodreads shelf too! Take a look here: https://www.goodreads.com/Ariadna73
March 16, 2014
A Simple egy (elnézést a szójátékért: egyáltalán nem szimpla) kiáltvány. Arra szólítja fel a cégeket, szervezeteket, kormányokat, hogy tegyék egyszerűbbé a felénk irányuló kommunikációjukat, s ezt úgy érjék el, hogy közben átalakítják értékrendszerüket és belső folyamataikat is. Bennünket (ügyfeleket, állampolgárokat) pedig arra ösztönöz, hogy várjuk el, követeljük ki ezt az egyszerűsítést, hallassuk a hangunkat, vegyük igénybe a formális és informális fogyasztóvédelmi csoportosulások sokszorozó-felerősítő erejét.
A könyv hatásosan mutatja be az életünkben jelenlévő komplexitás kialakulását, erősödését és „eredményeit”, és az ennek letörésére létrejött korai kezdeményezéseket. Érthetően és hatásosan, sok-sok példával ismerteti az egyszerűsítés három fázisát (Emphatize-Distill-Clarify), a felülről lefelé és alulról felfelé szerveződő egyszerűsítési projekteket (az előbbi nyilván hatásosabb, és megkerülhetetlen), valamint a közösségi média felhasználásának legjobb módjait.
Két nagy erősséget (és egyben gyengeséget) mindenképpen kiemelek. Az első a példák száma és változatossága. A hitelkártya-használati feltételek oldalszámának egy nagyságrenddel való csökkentésétől a New York-i lakásbérlők jogait ismertető kártyákon át az infógrafikákkal dúsított diákhitel-leírásokig terjed a lista – de szinte mindegyik nagyon amerikai, és a könyvben leírt módon nem valósítható meg idehaza. A második pozitív és egyben negatív dolog az online erőforrások USA-központúsága – jó lenne, ha hasonlók idehaza is rendelkezésre állnának.
És itt térnék vissza a könyv kiáltvány jellegéhez: az üzleti és kormányzati szereplőkkel való kommunikáció magától nem lesz egyszerűbb, ehhez az kell, hogy idehaza mi is álljunk ki a jogainkért, és alakítsuk ki/át azt a civil szférát, ami már hatásosan fel tud lépni a fenti szereplők ellen.
A könyv hatásosan mutatja be az életünkben jelenlévő komplexitás kialakulását, erősödését és „eredményeit”, és az ennek letörésére létrejött korai kezdeményezéseket. Érthetően és hatásosan, sok-sok példával ismerteti az egyszerűsítés három fázisát (Emphatize-Distill-Clarify), a felülről lefelé és alulról felfelé szerveződő egyszerűsítési projekteket (az előbbi nyilván hatásosabb, és megkerülhetetlen), valamint a közösségi média felhasználásának legjobb módjait.
Két nagy erősséget (és egyben gyengeséget) mindenképpen kiemelek. Az első a példák száma és változatossága. A hitelkártya-használati feltételek oldalszámának egy nagyságrenddel való csökkentésétől a New York-i lakásbérlők jogait ismertető kártyákon át az infógrafikákkal dúsított diákhitel-leírásokig terjed a lista – de szinte mindegyik nagyon amerikai, és a könyvben leírt módon nem valósítható meg idehaza. A második pozitív és egyben negatív dolog az online erőforrások USA-központúsága – jó lenne, ha hasonlók idehaza is rendelkezésre állnának.
És itt térnék vissza a könyv kiáltvány jellegéhez: az üzleti és kormányzati szereplőkkel való kommunikáció magától nem lesz egyszerűbb, ehhez az kell, hogy idehaza mi is álljunk ki a jogainkért, és alakítsuk ki/át azt a civil szférát, ami már hatásosan fel tud lépni a fenti szereplők ellen.
April 30, 2013
This is a quick read with a clear message: USA peeps need to become simplifiers. There are many examples of how simplifying saves governments and businesses money and increases consumer satisfaction and loyalty. What's not to like? While the authors don't mention how powerful the complicators are, it's worth noting that there are many, many lawyers, accountants, politicians, and bureaucrats whose jobs and egos depend on complexity and preservation of the status quo. I agree peeps can work toward simplifying, but they face formidable forces. There are many websites that peeps want access to, but cannot easily delete the portions of the online license/usage agreement in order to avoid the hidden negatives for consumers. The suggested websites callforclarity.com and centerforplainlanguage.org offer some ways to become a simplification activist. The book has some good examples when social media pressure prompted those in power to change (such as a proposed debit card fee), but lasting change will only come when those in power can keep or gain power by simplifying.
Another example: simplifying the tax code removes a tool for the powerful - the only way for social media and general taxpayer action to get it done is to actually vote peeps out of office who don't take specific action to simplify the tax code. I'm willing to do my part, but I need some tax reform and government simplification candidates to run against these status quo peeps. My conclusion is that the book "oversimplifies" conquering complexity.
Another example: simplifying the tax code removes a tool for the powerful - the only way for social media and general taxpayer action to get it done is to actually vote peeps out of office who don't take specific action to simplify the tax code. I'm willing to do my part, but I need some tax reform and government simplification candidates to run against these status quo peeps. My conclusion is that the book "oversimplifies" conquering complexity.
January 1, 2014
Simple is a simple book and a breezy read. It's a perspective on the author's experience as brand consultants and "simplicity" experts 30 years of experience as "simplicity warriors".
the book doesn't add anything missing, but it doesn't waste time either. It simply offers the authors perspective, inter spliced with a few stats that feel equally non-specific, that simplicity is the affliction that is impacting business, products, politics and politics again.
The authors only offer three words (empathize, distill, clarify) to CEOs (they wast no time speaking to middle managers and in fact express a bit of contempt for middle managers), and a list of websites to complain about complexity to others.
The true issue with this book that prevents it from being three stars is the authors lack a theme in what they term complexity, or simplicity for that matter-- devolving to a point where they are using simplicity as an argument against terms of use, long forms (they really hate that) but without explanation OXO's measuring cups and New Yorks 311 the same. The examples and cases seem circumstantial at best.
However, because of its quick read the book may still have value as quick introduction or to convey to someone that you think its time to seek a reprieve from the complexity-- but outside of that it offers little value.
I recommend: Laws of Subtraction instead or if you're ready for some dense material Less and More on Dieter Rams
the book doesn't add anything missing, but it doesn't waste time either. It simply offers the authors perspective, inter spliced with a few stats that feel equally non-specific, that simplicity is the affliction that is impacting business, products, politics and politics again.
The authors only offer three words (empathize, distill, clarify) to CEOs (they wast no time speaking to middle managers and in fact express a bit of contempt for middle managers), and a list of websites to complain about complexity to others.
The true issue with this book that prevents it from being three stars is the authors lack a theme in what they term complexity, or simplicity for that matter-- devolving to a point where they are using simplicity as an argument against terms of use, long forms (they really hate that) but without explanation OXO's measuring cups and New Yorks 311 the same. The examples and cases seem circumstantial at best.
However, because of its quick read the book may still have value as quick introduction or to convey to someone that you think its time to seek a reprieve from the complexity-- but outside of that it offers little value.
I recommend: Laws of Subtraction instead or if you're ready for some dense material Less and More on Dieter Rams
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