Simplicity Lens #11 - Let it Go

When we become attached to something we can't remove it. Review and let go of what is not needed.

You've been working for so long on the project that it has become part of who you are. Removing something would be like removing one of your limbs.

It's important at this point to be able to critically review your work and let go of what is not needed. Go through the entire project and look at what can be removed. Even if it hurts when you think of removing it, go ahead and do it. It will hurt at first but in the end it will make the experience better.

Be willing to make sacrifices, always review and be willing to let things go.

This post is part of the Simplicity Lenses series. Simplicity Lenses is a tool that will help you eliminate complexity one card at a time. Subscribe to this blog to get a lens every week and the downloadable PDF when it becomes available

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Nothing To-Do

The empty to-do list is something dreadful for most of us. "How can it be empty?", "Does it mean I don't have anything important happening?" will be most people's reaction. If your list is never empty then it probably means one of two things. Either you're not managing your work well, or you are working on too many things. In most cases I think it will be the first and this can be solved by learning how to use a to-do list (more on that at a later post). If it's the second, then you need to learn to say no or delegate some of the work to someone.

The important thing is that once every week or two weeks you need to clear your to-do list in order to make space for some creation, inspiration, reflection and new work. If you're constantly overflown with work, then you don't leave time for your brain to think and come up with new ideas.

Empty your to-do list, leave it like that for a day and use that day to work on new ideas and projects.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Don't Learn to Code

Last week I fired up my editor and was ready to write this post. Instead I ended up writing about choice and inaction, because that's what my muse wanted me to do.

While going through my news feeds this week I came across this wonderfull post by Jeff Atwood titled "Please Don't Learn to Code". If you have a couple of minutes, read Jeff's article and then come back and read the rest of this post.

You're back. Cool. If you've taken part in any online or offline discussion about founding a tech startup then the first advice you will get is to LEARN TO CODE. For some reason people think that knowing to code will solve all your startup problems, because you will be able to build a prototype that will be poorly written, misuse resources and not function properly. To me this advice is the same like advising a founder to learn accounting, law, marketing, branding, pr, journalism (we all need a well written blog), creative writing, management and everything else that you can think of and might be needed in running a company.

Don't get me wrong, I started programming when I was 10 and even did a Computer Engineering degree which taught me how to program in Assembly. I'm not saying that programming is not useful, it's just not the most important thing in building a company. If you have the time, invest in learning the fundamentals of programming so you have an understanding. In the same way that you will learn the fundamentals of accounting, the law etc. so you can lead your people and have constructive arguments. Your focus though needs to be in building your business, your product and your brand. If you want to take some time off to learn something, then learn how to manage a team and inspire people. Then learn to delegate and get the right team around you.

Stop using this canned response and focus on your business. We want you to solve our problems and hold your promise, not find out that you actually wrote all the code.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Be Consistent and Integrate

I was reading an article yesterday on Businessweek that is very close to our beliefs. I've said it before and I'll say it again, your brand needs to be consistent.

You need to be consistent and integrate all your marketing efforts. I'm not talking about just the aesthetics, communications and messaging. Everything you do, every interaction needs to be consistent with your brand's identity.

Look at the leading brands and examine how they have done it. Learn from what huge brands like Apple, McDonald's and Coke do in order to create an identity that is consistent and integrated. Speak to your team and work on your strategy. Don't be afraid to throw everything in the bin and start over, some times sacrifices need to be made in order to succeed.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Simplicity Lens #10 - Focus

Focus on what's important. Look at the details and then at the bigger picture. Make sure the one works with the other.

You always need to be focused at what you are doing and trying to achieve. Whether you are building a product, a brand or a service, you need to have razor sharp focus.

Here's also an older post where I discuss why focus is so important.

Find what you are trying to achieve, validate it and then focus on that.

This post is part of the Simplicity Lenses series. Simplicity Lenses is a tool that will help you eliminate complexity one card at a time. Subscribe to this blog to get a lens every week and the downloadable PDF when it becomes available

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Don't be Afraid to Create

Inspiration doesn't come from inaction. Be brave enough to try, create and fail.

Creation is a beautiful journey that even if it ends with failure, it will leave you with a lot of lessons. Whenever you see an opportunity to create something, gather the resources and do it. Don't be scared because you don't have everything in place or the required knowledge.

Do it, fail, learn and improve. This is the best way to learn and get inspired.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Choice and Inaction

Endless choice causes inaction. We all want to have choices, but when those become too many we take no action. The difficulty is in finding the perfect balance. You need to offer just enough.

Barry Schwartz put this problem very well in his book The Paradox of Choice:

Autonomy and Freedom of choice are critical to our well being, and choice is critical to freedom and autonomy. Nonetheless, though modern Americans have more choice than any group of people ever has before, and thus, presumably, more freedom and autonomy, we don't seem to be benefiting from it psychologically.

—quoted from Ch.5, The Paradox of Choice, 2004

You have probably felt this psychological effect on a daily basis. A trip to the supermarket, a quick research on which to-do app you should use, which provider you should pick and you can start screaming with choice. The result is that you'll probably either postpone the choice for a later time or go for what you have always done.

When it's your turn to offer a product or service, make sure you don't end up making the same mistake. Focus on what you are doing and who it's for. Make it easy for people to choose you and offer more choices only when you really need to. 

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

The Brand Bible

Do you have one? If not, better get started.

What needs to be in your brand bible is everything that someone would need to understand in order to fall in love with your brand. It's different to the brand guidelines (although it will include them) since the purpose is to communicate everything about your brand. It's the go to document when anyone has a question.

In the bible list everything that has to do with your brand. Here's a list of essentials:

• Vision
• Mission
• Goals
• Founding story
• Brand story
• Values
• What you stand for
• Purpose
• Enemies
• Friends
• Biggest achievements
• Aesthetic/design guidelines
• Archetype
• Tone of voice
• How you approach customers
• How you deal with customers

This list can go on and is definitely not exhaustive. Just put in there anything about your brand that you come across and others should know. Then give it to your partner/colleague/employee and ask them to review and make comments.

When someone joins your team, just give them the bible to read and then have an inspiring induction. That should put them on the right path.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Simplicity Lens #9 - Naturalness

Avoid the use of elaborate designs and over-refinement. Create an experience that doesn't feel forced.

As humans we find comfort in nature and everything that feels natural. When something feels natural we are not overwhelmed by it and we are not afraid to approach it. This method has been used in other world views like Wabi-sabi, where things are intentionally left imperfect in order to make them simpler and natural.

It's easier to apply this lens on physical objects and some process where naturalness can be easily maintained. In more refined practices (e.g. Web design) applying this lens might be more difficult. In this case use the lens to test the experience and see how natural it feels. Where possible, draw from the user's experience and background to offer them an experience that feels natural.

Naturalness is welcoming and helps us overcome our fears. This allows us to experience and embrace new things.

This post is part of the Simplicity Lenses series. Simplicity Lenses is a tool that will help you eliminate complexity one card at a time. Subscribe to this blog to get a lens every week and the downloadable PDF when it becomes available

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Simplicity is the New Religion

When I first had a chat with Vagelis Davitidis (editor of Ypovrixio "Submarine" magazine) about what we do and our dedication to simplicity he told me one thing "Simplicity is the new religion". This got me thinking.

According to Wikipedia religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Let's remove spirituality from the definition and then we have something that can actually work with simplicity.

For simplicity to work we need to believe in it and use it as our worldview. We need to have faith in simplicity and its results. Sometimes these results are not measurable and cannot be attributed to simplicity because it's not a process or approach on its own. Experience though has proven how effective a focus on simplicity can be (just look at Apple for an example).

I believe in simplicity and I have faith in it. Give simplicity a chance and have some faith in it.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis