How to Invest in Steven Job's First Design Principle To Change Your Life?

Steve Jobs believed in simplicity; it's more powerful than you think. When a team of top product designers at Apple met with Steve Jobs to present their design, which later became iDVD—an application that allowed users to burn music, movies, and digital photos stored on their computers onto a DVD—they expected their manager to be impressed.

Note: This article is taken from the work of author Greg McKeown, who discusses the importance of simplifying things in all areas of life.

The design was beautiful and elegant, and despite having several features and functionalities, they were proud of how they simplified the original version of the product, which initially required a thousand-page user manual.

But soon the team learned that Jobs was thinking of something else as he headed towards the whiteboard and drew a rectangle, then said: "This is the new application; it has one window where the user drags the video into the window, then clicks the copy button; that's all there is to it, and that's what we have to do."

For entrepreneurs, simplicity is paramount. We strive to design products that are user-friendly, provide easily accessible services, create websites and applications that are easy to navigate, and so on. When it comes to the final product or customer service, we elevate simplicity to a form of art.

So, why do we still find much of our daily tasks filled with a lot of complexity?

We have developed a habit of making things more complicated than they need to be in our daily lives, often without even realizing it. It's as if we unintentionally create complexity. When confronted with simple challenges, we tend to overthink and come up with overly complex solutions, leading to frustration with these convoluted approaches. As a result, we find ourselves seeking new ways to simplify the originally complex problem once again.

In addition, with the continuation of this empty cycle, we add layer upon layer of complexity.

The same happens when trying to expand the operations of any organization; the inevitable result is that complexity spreads everywhere. The processes become more challenging, coordination within and between teams takes more time and effort, and simple tasks suddenly become unnecessarily and insanely complicated.

Indeed, once we remove the unnecessary layers of complexity, tasks that seemed challenging to accomplish suddenly transform into easily achievable priorities. This applies to almost everything, from designing and launching a new product to entering a new market to leading a rapidly growing team. Simplifying processes and focusing on the essentials allows us to tackle challenges more efficiently and achieve success with greater ease.

In my first book, I mentioned that identifying the essentials requires a strict system for setting priorities. However, in my latest book, I emphasize that to accomplish these essential tasks, we need a rigorous form of simplification. Now, here are some pieces of advice for you:

Start From Scratch

Last year, I launched a podcast. Initially, the instructions I was supposed to send to each guest joining me on the podcast consisted of 15 steps, and I found it difficult even to read them, let alone the guests who had to follow and implement them.

So, I started from scratch and asked myself, "What is the minimum number of steps someone can take to chat with me on this program?" This led me to a solution that allowed me to reduce the steps to just two simple ones.

When faced with an extremely complex project, we tend to unconsciously simplify it. But what if we didn't see it as inherently complex and started from scratch? You'll be surprised by the number of seemingly complex goals that can be achieved and the tasks that can be completed in just a few simple steps. So, start from scratch and identify the minimal number of steps needed.

Get Rid of the Unnecessary Details

In a pivotal moment during the legendary transformation of IBM, then-CEO Lou Gerstner invited one of his executive leaders, Nick Donofrio, to speak at a company-wide meeting. At that time, the standard organization for any important presentation in the company involved high overhead projectors and graphics on transparent sheets known to employees as "slides."

As Gerstner recounts, "Nick was reading from the second foil when I walked up to the table and politely turned off the overhead projector in front of his team. After a long, awkward moment of silence, I simply said, 'Let's talk about your work only.'"

This should be the primary objective of most presentations: "Focus on your work." Therefore, the next time you need to create a presentation, share sales figures, or report on progress, resist the urge to include unnecessary elements. They can distract both you and your audience. That's why, when I deliver presentations, I use just six slides with fewer than ten words in total.

You might have already eliminated unnecessary elements in your product itself; now do the same with your processes, presentations, and everything else.

Eliminate unnecessary steps

We often try to simplify our processes by simplifying individual steps, but what if we eliminated them instead?

Unnecessary steps are just that—unnecessary. By getting rid of them, you can focus all your energy on accomplishing the essential project. In almost every field, achieving the main task is far better than completing extra steps that add no value.

One of the twelve principles of the Agile Manifesto states that "simplicity—the art of maximizing the amount of work not done—is essential." The idea here is to create value for the customer, and if that can be achieved with fewer steps and fewer features, then that is precisely what should be done.

While this applies to software development processes, we can also implement it for any daily task. Regardless of your ultimate goal, remember that the simplest steps are the ones you don't take.