27/02/2023
2. Keep it simple
Jobs simplified products by focusing on their essence and eliminating unnecessary components. Machines should be elegant, user-friendly, not challenging. It was such an important value to Apple that the first Mac user manuals began with a quote from da Vinci: “Simplicity is the absolute ultimate in sophistication.”
Jobs believed that simplicity should come from conquering, not ignoring, complexity. It's not just about minimalism or the removal of clutter. To eliminate redundant buttons on the phone, it was necessary to deeply understand the role of each element and provide a simple, elegant, but no less effective alternative.
It is much more difficult to achieve simplicity than complexity. It takes a lot of work to make your thought clear and do a simple thing. But it's worth it, because once you get there, you can move mountains.
How to apply this in your life?
Answering the following questions will help you find the simplest solutions to problems:
Why does this problem exist? Decide on the causes of the problem, as well as why you are dealing with it. Why are there buttons on the phone? For navigation and data entry. Thus, the problem is not with the buttons, but with how to enter numbers and other data.
Are there obvious solutions to this problem? Too often we think that a complex problem must have a complex solution. And therefore we immediately discard the obvious way that first comes to our mind.
What is the least I can do to fix the problem? List all possible solutions to the problem and focus on the one you think is best. Now remove everything that does not add value to this solution. While it's difficult, it's also the key to keeping it simple.
3. Say "No" to a thousand things
The ability to prioritize is not enough. An equally important skill is to be willing to give up even more things that sometimes also seem very significant.
“Steve’s methodology differs from everyone else in that he always believed that the most important decisions you make are not what you do, but what you decide not to do,” recalls former Apple CEO John Scully.
Take the iPod as an example. MP3 players were inconvenient with their many buttons and wheels, and you had to take the time to figure out how everything worked. With an iPod, you only need a few intuitive clicks to access thousands of tracks.
Many designers try to make their products stand out by integrating more and more features, but Apple has been moving in the opposite direction. The iPod was designed to help people listen to music, and anything that might distract from that was mercilessly removed.
I'm actually just as proud of what we didn't do as of what we did. Innovation is saying "No" to a thousand things.
How to implement this in your life?
Author of the book "Essentialism. Strive for Less” offers the following 5 tips to help you learn to say “No”:
Soft "No" (or "no, but") . Explain that you are currently focusing on other things, but you might well agree once you are done.
"Let me check my calendar and get back to you." This will give you time to pause and assess your priorities, rather than automatically agreeing.
Use an e-mail autoresponder. Why limit this practice to just weekends and holidays? Teach people to respect your time - use automatic replies.
Say: “Okay. What should I deprioritize then?” Remind your superiors what you would be missing out on if you said yes, and get them to compromise.
"I can't do it, but X might be interested." It's tempting to think that our help is uniquely priceless, but often people who ask for something don't really care who is helping them - as long as they get help.
