Undoubtedly, you’ve heard of the KISS principle. KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid, is a military term focusing on simple design. The thought behind the acronym is that most systems work best if they are kept simple rather than made complicated. Simplicity should be maximized, and complexity should be minimized.
When I joined the IBM Global Services team in 1996, I had no formal information technology or computer science education. I wanted to learn and help others, and when I was invited to be part of the PECO (Philadelphia Energy Company) helpdesk team, I was ecstatic. The helpdesk services offering was IBM’s new venture into the IT outsourcing industry. Our mantra was to “Keep It Simple.” The team took a complex idea and created a simple, replicable model that became the International Helpdesk offering. As my career at IBM grew, I held on to this core principle and was able to use it to build teams and deliver exceptional services.
Simplicity, or keeping it simple, is not the absence of complexity. Simplicity is taking the complex and reorganizing it so that understanding and execution are optimized. You must look at your current situation or status differently to achieve this goal. It involves a clear understanding of the outcome desired and a willingness to think, dream, question, and explore new ways of doing things. One of the central elements of keeping it simple is creativity. Hence, my PECO days. We had no preconceived ideas and could not say, “We’ve never done it that way before.” We had a team of dreamers, eager to solve problems, able to think critically, and willing to try something new. We wanted to find the simplest solution to deliver the highest quality service possible. We made a commitment to keep it simple.
At Doing Good at Work, we encourage and equip individuals, businesses, organizations, and non-profit leaders to embrace the “Keep It Simple” philosophy. There is power in simplicity, but to achieve this level of execution, you have to think differently. We are here to help; visit Doing Good at Work to learn more.
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Keep it simple,
Boomer
Dr. Boomer Brown, Ph.D., is the CEO of Doing Good at Work. Doing Good at Work is a 501(c)3 organization that functions like a business. We desire to “Make People Better” because we know better people make better businesses, and better businesses make a better world. Learn more: https://doinggoodatwork.com/