Why is simplicity so damn sexy?
One of my self-described super powers is bringing simplicity to the complex, and yet I continue to find opportunities to simplify my own life and environment.
My personal website was one of those areas that wasn't so simple. I had a hero video with the tech stack from The Avengers (it was dope), artistically photoshopped images, beautiful backgrounds and color patterns. And as much fun as it was to create it, it felt like too much. If people didn't see how creative my website could be, am I still creative?!
My website wasn’t inspiring me to write more, it felt stale, and it felt forced.
So I spent some time recently redesigning it down to the essentials. It's easier for me to write and publish more. There's no fluff or theatrics. No proving. Just an outlet for my Thoughts and an easy format for people to follow along.
Spending two years in San Francisco, I've built relationships with some amazing visionaries and futurists.
They would share these beautiful ideas of where we are going and what's possible, and it's incredibly inspiring. Almost without fail, the more forward thinking they are, the more difficult it is for them to express what was going on inside their head. 30 minutes into the conversation and I would finally start to get it.
All of that complexity makes it next to impossible to get started. It's too far out in the future. Where do we even begin?
We as Creators and leaders have to do our best to simplify. Bring things back to the present moment in tasks, ideas and bite-sized chunks that can be manageable. The complex, future visions are important, but the beauty is in the simplicity.
I would often use the "my nephew" test with people. He's 8 years old. If he can't understand what you're talking about or figure out how to use your app or what problem you are solving, then there's opportunity to simplify. When he was 3 years old, he opened up snapchat and figured out how to post a snap. That's an admirable benchmark for ease of use.
Keep it simple. It is more effective, better for engagement, better for retention, and easier to build, iterate and improve.
We have to fight the urge to believe that more features, more complexity, bigger words and jargon make us look smarter and more sophisticated. The only one we are trying to prove that to is ourselves. Let it go.
Simple works. Be comfortable and confident in the simplicity and the results will speak for themselves.