Simplicity and Clarity: A way out of Confusion

Simplicity and Clarity: A way Out of Confusion

By Mario deSantis, February 19, 2000

a world of infinite choices I can see a world of infinite choices where we all can make a difference, instead we are experiencing

a crazy world where law and order is maintained by legislating unconstitutional laws, where

economic growth is calculated through the Gross National Product index, and where governments

willfully misappropriate and mismanage public funds.

Our world is getting very convoluted Today, (February 16) The StarPhoenix reports that two senior constables have been suspended in

connection to a homicide investigation of two Native men discovered frozen to death⁽¹⁾, and that

seventy protesting farmers chained up the doors of the Legislature Building yesterday afternoon⁽²⁾.

In the meantime, a delegation of business people headed by Janice MacKinnon, Minister of

Economic Development, is taking a trip to Mongolia. Our world is getting very convoluted, full of

ambiguities, and there appears to be no end to this social nightmare in Saskatchewan.

As I ponder to our social and economic mess, the word simplicity comes to my mind; and

simplicity is what could rescue simplicity is what could rescue us from this social and economic mess. The term simplicity

has been propping up quite frequently lately, but unconsciously I have cherished simplicity

as a natural way to make sense of the world around me. Simplicity is just common sense, that

is the discerning of whatever is important from whatever is irrelevant or equally a way to

distinguish "the forest from the trees" . Simplicity is a natural concept, a way to find order or

clarity when we are in a state of confusion.

keep it simple and stupid Whenever my son James had to write essays or research papers for his university's classes, I

would tell him, among other things, "put yourself in the readers' shoes and see if whatever you

say makes sense", also I would add "be logical with the continuity of your sentences and put

as many references as you can." I would finish my preaching saying "always remember the

KISS principle, keep it simple and stupid."

Simplicity is the most natural way to behave, yet our convoluted world has been imposing its

stupid idea of being sophisticated artificialities on the way we behave and do our work. I cannot ever forget the time in the late 70s

when working for the Saskatchewan Health-Care Association (today's Saskatchewan Association

of Health Organizations) I came across computerized input forms containing so many fields which

had to be filled and which were not later processed by the computer system. When I asked why

those fields had to be filled, I was told that the computer system was too sophisticated for me to

understand. So, to be in business meant to be sophisticated and not looking for simplicity. Luckily

enough, I never bought into this stupid idea of being sophisticated and behaving like a puppy dog.

In few words, our world is filled with too many sophisticated leaders who make a mess of our work,

of our time, and ultimately of our lives.

our natural way to behave Simplicity is a simple term describing our natural way to behave, to make sense of the world

around us, however it has been ignored by our sophisticated leaders, in politics, in business, in

education, in governments. But simplicity has been always with us in our homes with our moms

as they would look after our well being by feeding us, by taking us to bed, by taking us to school

and teaching us the basics for becoming decent human beings⁽³⁾.

In my home-office, I have a bulletin board and on it I have a copy of the letter Timothy Shire wrote

Simplicity and clarity on behalf of my son James as part of his enrolment process to attend the Master of Business

Administration program at the University of North Dakota. In this letter, Shire writes "...During

this winter I published several articles by James in my daily online magazine/journal and the

reason I published these articles was because I thought their simplicity and clarity would serve

as excellent examples to high school and post secondary students who need to see models of well

written material that fits well into this evolving world of electronic documents..." Simplicity and

clarity, that is what is needed in this convoluted world.

the most important competitive advantage for corporations Today, I have a great sense of satisfaction in realizing that simplicity and clarity have been hailed

as the most important competitive advantage for corporations, governments, schools and

universities⁽⁴⁾. Today, when racist cops may have killed innocent people, when our governments

mismanage and misappropriate public funds, when our politicians and bureaucrats cover up their

misdeeds with lies over lies, then more than ever we require to make sense of what is happening

around us and go back to the basics of simplicity and clarity.

---------------References

General reference: Articles by Mario deSantis published by North Central Internet News http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/authors/desantis.html

1.
-
City cops suspended, by Dan Zakreski, The StarPhoenix, February 16, 2000, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

2.
-
Protesters chain door of legislature, by Lisa Schmidt, The StarPhoenix, February 16, 2000, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

3.
-
Wear Clean Underwear: Business Wisdom From Mom, by Rhonda Abrams, Villard, 1999 http://www.mgeneral.com/5-top/99-top/abrams.htm

4.
-
Simplicity: The New Competitive Advantage, by Bill Jensen, Perseus Books, January 2000 http://simplerwork.com

Simplicity and Clarity: A way Out of Confusion
*By Mario deSantis, February 19, 2000*

a world of infinite choices	I can see a world of infinite choices where we all can make a difference, instead we are experiencing
	a crazy world where law and order is maintained by legislating unconstitutional laws, where
	economic growth is calculated through the Gross National Product index, and where governments
	willfully misappropriate and mismanage public funds.

Our world is getting very convoluted	Today, (February 16) The StarPhoenix reports that two senior constables have been suspended in
	connection to a homicide investigation of two Native men discovered frozen to death⁽¹⁾, and that
	seventy protesting farmers chained up the doors of the Legislature Building yesterday afternoon⁽²⁾.
	In the meantime, a delegation of business people headed by Janice MacKinnon, Minister of
	Economic Development, is taking a trip to Mongolia. Our world is getting very convoluted, full of
	ambiguities, and there appears to be no end to this social nightmare in Saskatchewan.

	As I ponder to our social and economic mess, the word simplicity comes to my mind; and
simplicity is what could rescue	simplicity is what could rescue us from this social and economic mess. The term simplicity
	has been propping up quite frequently lately, but unconsciously I have cherished simplicity
	as a natural way to make sense of the world around me. Simplicity is just common sense, that
	is the discerning of whatever is important from whatever is irrelevant or equally a way to
	distinguish "the forest from the trees" . Simplicity is a natural concept, a way to find order or
	clarity when we are in a state of confusion.

keep it simple and stupid	Whenever my son James had to write essays or research papers for his university's classes, I
	would tell him, among other things, "put yourself in the readers' shoes and see if whatever you
	say makes sense", also I would add "be logical with the continuity of your sentences and put
	as many references as you can." I would finish my preaching saying "always remember the
	KISS principle, keep it simple and stupid."

	Simplicity is the most natural way to behave, yet our convoluted world has been imposing its
stupid idea of being sophisticated	artificialities on the way we behave and do our work. I cannot ever forget the time in the late 70s
	when working for the Saskatchewan Health-Care Association (today's Saskatchewan Association
	of Health Organizations) I came across computerized input forms containing so many fields which
	had to be filled and which were not later processed by the computer system. When I asked why
	those fields had to be filled, I was told that the computer system was too sophisticated for me to
	understand. So, to be in business meant to be sophisticated and not looking for simplicity. Luckily
	enough, I never bought into this stupid idea of being sophisticated and behaving like a puppy dog.
	In few words, our world is filled with too many sophisticated leaders who make a mess of our work,
	of our time, and ultimately of our lives.

our natural way to behave	Simplicity is a simple term describing our natural way to behave, to make sense of the world
	around us, however it has been ignored by our sophisticated leaders, in politics, in business, in
	education, in governments. But simplicity has been always with us in our homes with our moms
	as they would look after our well being by feeding us, by taking us to bed, by taking us to school
	and teaching us the basics for becoming decent human beings⁽³⁾.

	In my home-office, I have a bulletin board and on it I have a copy of the letter Timothy Shire wrote
Simplicity and clarity	on behalf of my son James as part of his enrolment process to attend the Master of Business
	Administration program at the University of North Dakota. In this letter, Shire writes "...During
	this winter I published several articles by James in my daily online magazine/journal and the
	reason I published these articles was because I thought their simplicity and clarity would serve
	as excellent examples to high school and post secondary students who need to see models of well
	written material that fits well into this evolving world of electronic documents..." Simplicity and
	clarity, that is what is needed in this convoluted world.

the most important competitive advantage for corporations	Today, I have a great sense of satisfaction in realizing that simplicity and clarity have been hailed
	as the most important competitive advantage for corporations, governments, schools and
	universities⁽⁴⁾. Today, when racist cops may have killed innocent people, when our governments
	mismanage and misappropriate public funds, when our politicians and bureaucrats cover up their
	misdeeds with lies over lies, then more than ever we require to make sense of what is happening
	around us and go back to the basics of simplicity and clarity.

---------------References

	General reference: Articles by Mario deSantis published by North Central Internet News http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/authors/desantis.html

1. -	City cops suspended, by Dan Zakreski, The StarPhoenix, February 16, 2000, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

2. -	Protesters chain door of legislature, by Lisa Schmidt, The StarPhoenix, February 16, 2000, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

3. -	Wear Clean Underwear: Business Wisdom From Mom, by Rhonda Abrams, Villard, 1999 http://www.mgeneral.com/5-top/99-top/abrams.htm

4. -	Simplicity: The New Competitive Advantage, by Bill Jensen, Perseus Books, January 2000 http://simplerwork.com