In Made to Stick, the authors propose that it’s hard to make ideas stick in a “noisy, unpredictable, chaotic environment”. If we plan out our ideas for a highly idealised situation, we run the risk of having them become obsolete very fast — and then what? Simplicity is to find the core of the idea we’re proposing.
Simple messages are core and compact. Proverbs are the Holy Grail of simplicity, i.e., a core, compact message that is profound.
Strip the idea down to its most critical elements. Weed out digressions and elements that aren’t necessary. Then, weed out ideas that may be really important but just aren’t the most important idea, which is hard. To find the core is to get the final, big insight. Like the military’s “commander’s intent”. There should be nothing to add, and nothing to take away.
Simplicity absolutely isn’t dumbing things down, or making things easy, or shooting for the lowest common denominator.
How do we create complex messages that people can remember from simple materials? We use schema to link together concepts (like conceptual notetaking).1 Complicated, accurate ideas matter much less than simple ideas that everyone can take away from. Analogies are useful too, because they evoke a concept people might already know.
Good metaphors/analogies are generative, because they can generate new perceptions, explanations, and inventions. The way Disney employees are “cast members”, because this language guides the way they should act and carry themselves. Utterly useless metaphors are Subway’s “sandwich artists”. What the fuck does this mean for employees?
Footnotes
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For example, we can introduce the idea of a pomelo (the fruit) by saying it’s similar to a grapefruit, but bigger. ↩