Have you ever really given it some thought about how much we overcomplicate things in our personal and professional lives? Unfortunately, the answers are more often than we probably have to. I am notorious for overthinking things; the only positive relief for me is that I can pull it back down to reality and move forward rather quickly. For me, while the process happens quickly, for others, it goes on and on and often hampers their decision-making process and leads to overanalyzing and indecisive decision-making. This potentially leads to adverse effects on how we conduct ourselves professionally. It impacts how we deal with others, service or sell our products/services, and ultimately affects your bottom line.
We have all heard the phrase, “Keep it simple, stupid.” The truth is that keeping it simple requires confidence and humility. We can all benefit if we can recognize that we don’t have to talk like a super genius to be seen as intelligent. There is tremendous genius in our ability to keep it simple. Do not ever forget that many of the world’s most difficult problems have been solved with the simplest solutions.
“If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.” – Albert Einstein.
KISS is simply an acronym for the design principle “Keep it simple, Stupid!”.[1] Other variations include “keep it short and simple” [2] or “keep it simple and straightforward.” [3] The KISS principle states that simplicity should be a key goal in design and that unnecessary complexity should be avoided.
The acronym was first coined by Kelly Johnson, lead engineer at the Lockheed Skunk Works (creators of the Lockheed U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird spy planes, among many others).
While popular usage translates it as ‘Keep it simple, stupid,’ Johnson translated it as ‘Keep it simple stupid, and many authors still use this reading.[4] There was no implicit meaning that an engineer was stupid, just the opposite.
“If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.” – Albert Einstein.
The principle is best exemplified by the story of Johnson handing a team of design engineers a handful of tools, with the challenge that the jet aircraft they were designing must be repairable by an average mechanic in the field under combat conditions with only these tools. Hence, the ‘stupid’ refers to the relationship between the way things break and the sophistication available to fix them.
Remember Rube Goldberg’s machines, intentionally overly-complex solutions to simple tasks or problems, are humorous examples of “non-KISS” solutions.
In closing, K-I-S-S….life is too short; don’t over-complicate what does not need to be overcomplicated!
Looking for a good book on the subject, suggested reading;
- The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It Paperback – by Michael E. Gerber
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