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Society

Gobbledegook Award #1

What else is there to say? God forbid the recyclables might actually mix!

Performance-Based Pay for Teachers: Over-Simplification Defined

In my last post, I commented that politicians usually prefer to simplify than to complicate. I think my wording was wrong. What they love to do is over-simplify. There is no better case in point than the current debate in Australia (and the U.S. too, I think) about performance based pay for teachers. On the [...]

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The Hidden Truths of Climate Change and Globalization

At the risk of getting political, a comment on the two major debates currently dominating Australian politics: climate change and industrial relations. What’s fascinating about these debates is the consistent avoidance of the simple truths at their centre – particularly given that we all know politicians are only to happy to over-simplify complex situations when [...]

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Using Simplicity for Spin

We all love a bit of simplicity, don’t we? Most of us like things to be easier – especially those more routine parts of life like domestic chores and shopping. Which is why we currently have marketers and advertisers clamouring over each other to attach words like ‘simple’ and ‘easy’ to their products. Banks (loans [...]

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Simplicity Cuts Through: What Politics can Teach Management

Last night I watched the last episode of series six of the West Wing. (Yes – I know. In Australia we are light-years behind.) The highlight of the episode is a speech to the Democratic convention by congressman Matt Santos – a speech which ultimately wins him the candidacy. At various times during his speech, [...]

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Paying a Big Price for Complexity

My city (Melbourne, Australia) is currently suffering a public transport crisis due to an so far unidentifiable braking problem on some of its trains. With large numbers of trains being taken off the tracks, the remaining trains are severely over-crowded and cancellations are common. The root of this problem goes back a few years and [...]

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When Simplicity costs More

This morning I needed to pay a bill for my daughters’ music lessons this term. When completing the form, I was given a number of options for payment, as we usually are. And, as we are becoming accustomed to, I was informed that if I chose to pay by credit card, there would be a [...]

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Does Simplicity have a Future?

Simplicity is over-rated. At least that’s what a leading thinker on product design, Don Norman, wrote last month. He went further, saying “simplicity is a myth whose time has past [sic]”. So are those of us who believe in simplicity kidding ourselves? Is it worth pursuing or a waste of time and energy?

I started thinking about Don Norman’s article a couple of days ago (see below). Here they are explored in a little more depth.

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Simply Complex? Complicated Simplicity? What is Simplicity’s place in 2007?

A swag of recent articles have alluded to one of the big problems with the pursuit of simplicity: it doesn’t necessarily sell. Essentially (and at the risk of over-simplifying!) it is argued that people tend to opt for extra, usually complex, features over simplicity at the time of purchase – whether or not they use [...]

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A Benefit of Drought

Here in Melbourne, as in most of Australia, we are in the grip of a record drought. As a result, water restrictions are in place and watering the garden has to be done with a hose; no sprinklers allowed. So there I was this morning, watering away, when I had a great idea. I’m not [...]

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When making it simple, it’s the small stuff the matters

Many companies are using the words 'simple' or 'simplicity' in their advertising at the moment. Few would be as dedicated to actually 'living' these statements as Philips seem to be. This story demonstrates what a genuine focus on simplicity can turn up. Briefly, Philips have bought the front pages of Time Warners magazine range – [...]

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