Simplicity

A while back I saw a post on facebook suggesting people not to complicate life by following some simple guidelines and then it ended up by saying "It is that simple".  Then a whole discussion started about how life itself is complicated, and even if you follow these things, the outcome might not be as expected,  concluding there is no simplicity in doing those tasks.  I confirmed by saying yes, it is constant hard work yet deep down thinking the suggested steps were really simple to do (e.g. calling someone if you miss them, telling them you love them if you do, inviting people if you want to see them, etc.).

Last week I took a project management training, teaching us guidelines for tackling huge projects, one step at a time, eating an elephant one piece at a time.  It was in the middle of that training that a sentence clicked and made me realize both my friend and I were correct in our previous discussion: "Simple is not easy".

Just because something is simple, it does not mean it is easy.  A huge milestone may be achieved by taking hundreds of steps, each of those steps might be very easy tasks, the whole thing might be very simple, not requiring an innovative solution, a breakthrough, and maybe even not much expertise, but doing them all in order, in time, within budget, to achieve that milestone requires discipline, perseverance, planning,  and most importantly actually doing each task.  Simple means the recipe, the algorithm, the steps are well defined, clear, and  achievable.  Achieving that milestone might in fact be very difficult and hard while each required task for achieving it, as well as the whole thing, might be very simple to do.  For example, walking is a simple task.  Everyone knows how to do it.  Walking 40 miles in 1-2 days, still requires doing a very simple task, over and over.  It is simple, but not easy.  Simple is not easy!

There is another way to read that sentence too.  Keeping things simple, being simple, not adding complications, is not easy either.  "Simple" itself is not easy!