Simple yet difficult

Have you ever noticed how adding just one extra button to an app can suddenly make it confusing?

Or how a meeting that was supposed to be quick ends up stretching for hours with no clear decision?

Simplicity feels like it should be easy, but it rarely is.

Keeping things simple demands more than just trimming extras. It calls for clarity, discipline, and a kind of courage most of us don’t talk about enough.

Simplicity is not the default state of things.

Complexity sneaks in everywhere, in our choices, our designs, and even in our personalities.

But resisting that complexity? That’s an active practice.

It means making hard decisions about what matters and what doesn’t.

It means being authentic, limiting options, and designing with a ruthless focus on the essentials.

Pretending to be someone else might seem like an easy way to fit in or avoid conflict.

But it costs you: time, energy, and trust.

When you try to wear a mask, you spend mental bandwidth keeping up appearances instead of focusing on what really matters. And people sense it.

Authenticity, on the other hand, is surprisingly freeing.

It’s like a muscle you can strengthen with small rituals: setting daily intentions, saying no to what doesn’t align with your values, or simply being honest about what you think or feel.

Staying unmistakably yourself isn’t about perfection; it’s about clarity on who you are and what you stand for.

When you’re authentic, your decisions become easier because they don’t require constant justification.

You spend less time navigating a maze of options and more time moving forward.

Ever felt stuck staring at a menu with too many options? It’s the same with decision-making in life and work.

When faced with too many choices, we get overwhelmed or freeze up. We call this “analysis paralysis.” (My friend Yanick just talked about that recently in his blog post)

The secret to breaking free is setting clear constraints. Limiting yourself to three options, for example, forces you to think critically about what really matters.

Simple heuristics help, too.

Instead of trying to predict every possible outcome, use rules-of-thumb:

“If it doesn’t move the needle, drop it.”

Or,

“Choose the option that feels right after 10 seconds.”

These shortcuts save mental energy and keep you focused on progress, not perfection.

In product or app design, simplicity often means choosing between “everything for everyone” and doing one thing extremely well.

When you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one.

A minimal user interface that forces prioritization is the antidote.

For instance, stripping a complex app down from nine core actions to just three can flip the onboarding experience from frustrating to inviting. Users don’t get lost in a maze; they find what they need quickly.

This discipline isn’t just about cutting features. It’s about focusing on outcomes, not outputs. What’s the one problem your product solves better than anything else? Design around that.

Simple business models tend to scale better.

Why? Because they’re easier to understand, manage, and adapt.

Complicated, fragile models might look impressive on paper but break under pressure.

Similarly, simple key performance indicators (KPIs) align teams faster than lengthy dashboards packed with data no one has time to sift through.

Imagine a team rallying around one metric that truly signals progress. Everyone knows what success looks like, and decisions become clearer.

The clutter disappears.

In communication and marketing, clear messaging cuts through noise.

Jargon and buzzwords just confuse and alienate.

Simplicity means having one promise and repeating it consistently. Customers remember that promise. They don’t remember a jumble of features or complicated explanations.

This kind of narrative simplicity builds trust. It’s honest and direct. No fluff, no distractions.

Strong cultures are often built on simple values and rituals that embed desired behaviors.

When everyone knows the core principles, behaviors align naturally. Hiring for cultural fit over “perfect fit” complexity saves time, reduces friction, and creates teams that move faster together.

Simple values don’t mean shallow ones.

They mean clear, actionable, and lived values.

Next time you feel overwhelmed, try a little experiment: simplify one decision this week.

Limit your choices to three, or pick the one metric you’ll track.

Maybe remove one feature from your project or rewrite your product promise in a single crisp sentence.

Simplicity isn’t a lucky accident.

It’s a practice, a muscle you build with small, consistent actions. And the more you exercise it, the easier it becomes to say no to complexity and yes to what really matters.