Whether making things
simple requires greater
effort and
courage than making them
bigger and more
complex depends on the sort of effort and courage. Indisputably, the
many complex technological marvels that are part-and-parcel of our lives today are
the result of the extraordinary cumulative efforts of our engineers, entrepreneurs,
and others. And, such achievements always call for the courage to risk failing in a
large way.Yet, humans seem naturally driven to make things bigger and more complex;
thus, refraining from doing so, or reversing this natural process, takes considerable
effort and courage of a different sort, as discussed below.
The
statement brings immediately to mind the ever-growing and increasingly
complex digital world.Today''s high-tech firms seem compelled to boldly go to whatever
effort is
required to devise increasingly complex products, for the ostensible
purpose of staying ahead of their competitors.Yet, the sort of effort and courage to
which the statement refers is a different one-bred of vision, imagination, and a willingness
to forego near-term profits for the prospect of making lasting contributions.
Surely, a number of entrepreneurs and engineers today are mustering that courage,
and are making the effort to create far simpler, yet more elegant, technologies and
applications, which will truly make our lives simpler-in sharp contrast to what computer
technology has delivered to us so far.
Lending even more credence to the statement is the so-called "big government"
phenomenon. Human societies have a natural tendency to create unwieldy bureaucracies,
a fitting example of which is the U.S. tax-law system.The Internal Revenue
Code and its accompanying Treasury Regulations have grown so voluminous and
complex that many certified accountants and tax attorneys admit that they cannot
begin to understand it all. Admittedly, this system has grown only through considerable
effort on the part of all three branches of the federal government, not to mention
the efforts of many special-interest groups.Yet, therein lies the statement''s credibility.
It requires great effort and courage on the part of a legislator to risk alienating special
interest groups, thereby risking reelection prospects, by standing on principle for a
simpler tax system that is less costly to administer and better serves the interests of
most taxpayers.
Adding further credibility to the statement is the tendency of most people to
complicate their personal lives-a tendency that seems especially strong in today''s
age of technology and consumerism.The greater our mobility, the greater our number
of destinations each day; the more time-saving gadgets we use, the more activities we
try to pack into our day; and with readier access to information we try to assimilate
more of it each day. I am hard-pressed to think of one person who has ever exclaimed
to me how much effort and courage it has taken to complicate his or her life in these
respects. In contrast, a certain self-restraint and courage of conviction are both required
to eschew modern conveniences, to simplify one''s daily schedule, and to es
tablish and adhere to a simple plan for the use of one''s time and money.
In sum, whether we are building computer networks, government agencies, or
personal lifestyles, great effort and courage are required to make things simple, or to
keep them that way. Moreover, because humans naturally tend to make things big and
complex, it arguably requires more effort and courage to move in the opposite direction.
In the final analysis, making things simple-or keeping them that way-takes a
brand of effort born of reflection and restraint rather than sheer exertion, and a courageous
character and conviction rather than unbridln.
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