Steve Jobs Was a Genius Because He Kept Things Simple. Here Are 3 Reasons Simplicity Is Complex for the Rest of Us.

July 12, 2021 4 min read

When a team of Apple’s best product designers presented to Steve Jobs what became the iDVD — a now-­defunct computer application that allowed users to burn video files onto a DVD — they expected their boss to be wowed. The design was beautiful and clean. The app performed numerous functions, even though the team had dramatically streamlined the original version, which had a thousand-page user manual. 

But Jobs had something else in mind. He walked to the whiteboard and drew a rectangle. Then he said, “Here’s the new application. It’s got one window. You drag your video into the window. Then you click the button that says ‘burn.’ That’s it. That’s what we’re going to make.” 

Simplicity is an art form. Entrepreneurs strive to create products that are simple to use, services that are simple to access, websites and apps that are simple to navigate, and customer experiences that are, simply, simple.

Related: How Steve Jobs’ #1 Design Principle Can Transform Your Daily Life

Then why is so much of what we do still riddled with complexity?

We’ve become so accustomed to complexity’s presence in all the processes in our lives, we barely even notice it. Worse, we unwittingly create it: Faced with what should be simple problems, we wind up finding complex solutions. Then we get frustrated, and we look for new ways to make that now-complex problem simple again. As this cycle continues, we add layer upon layer of unnecessary complexity.

In my first book, I argued that identifying what is essential requires a system of ruthless prioritization. In my new book, Effortless, I explain that to actually get those essential things done, what is required is ruthless simplification. Here are a few tips.

1. Start at zero.

When faced with immense complexity, our instinct is to try to pare it down. But what if we inverted the approach and started with a blank slate instead? 

Last year, I launched a podcast. Originally, the instructions I was supposed to send to each guest consisted of 15 steps. They were overwhelming even for me to read, never mind for guests to follow. So I asked myself, What is the minimum number of steps someone could take? and soon found the answer: two.

Related: 5 Ways to Promote Simplicity and Boost Efficiency

You’d be surprised how few steps are needed to obtain a seemingly complex goal or complete a seemingly complex task. So start at zero, and determine the minimum from there. 

2. Lose the bells and whistles.

It has become a common reflex to dress things up, especially when it comes to pitches, presentations, and progress reports. Here’s what the goal of those things usually should be: to just talk about your business — simply. Resist the temptation to add extra bells and whistles. They aren’t a distraction only for you; they’re a distraction for your audience. That’s why when I do presentations, I use six slides, with fewer than 10 words total. 

You already eliminate the unnecessary features in your product. Do the same for everything else. 

3. Maximize the steps not taken.

Too often, we try to simplify our processes by simplifying the individual steps within them. But what if we removed steps instead? That allows you to channel all your energy toward getting the actual project done.

Related: 8 Ways to Work Smarter and Improve Productivity

One of the 12 principles of the famed Agile Manifesto defines simplicity as “the art of maximizing the amount of work not done.” It means the goal is to create value for the customer, and if that can be achieved with less work, that is what should be done. 

This principle can be adapted to any everyday process. Regardless of what your ultimate goal is, the simplest steps are the ones you don’t take. 

Adapted from Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most (Penguin Random House), by Greg McKeown.