U n r a v e l e d = S i m p l e

Let’s face it: the world is complex, and it’s not getting simpler any time soon.  Running a business today is like battling a giant, tangled knot that is impossible to separate – the minute you try to free one thread, you end up tightening the knot somewhere else.

The theme of my manifesto is “unraveled.”  It’s about taking this complex business environment, accepting it, and learning to stop pulling at the threads that just tighten the grip of the knot.  By removing the distractions, tuning out the noise, and taking the time to just think, business can be surprisingly simple.

A lot of the complexity in our world stems from Web 2.0 and the explosive proliferation of products and services.  But here’s something I’ve noticed: we seem to thrive on making things more complex than they really are. Do we really intend to make things unclear and confusing?  With a mixture of acronyms, business jargon, and senseless buzz words, we don’t actually WANT you to know what we’re saying…we just want you to think that WE know what we’re saying.

This isn’t just the work of individuals.  The truth is, a lot of industries don’t really want you to unravel them [the insurance industry is one of the guiltiest of this].  The complexity they generate creates a mystique around what they do…allowing them to think they’re cashing in on your confusion.  There is real money to be made is in navigating the complexity and making it simple.

This phenomenon is what motivated me to write my manifesto.  When it came time to writing the manifesto I found many of the ten principles bearing down on me as pushed toward completion.  Looking back it really wasn’t all that complex it just needed a bit of unraveling.

Think Different

This week, the world lost one of the greatest game changers of all time: Steve Jobs.  

Jobs didn’t just make iPods.  He was an inspiration on both a personal and professional level to me and many others.  People feel a deep and very real emotional connection to Jobs – something you don’t see with many public figures. 

For those of us who witnessed the progression of Apple as a company, Jobs’ legacy takes on even more meaning.  We saw the ups and downs in the tech world, with giants like Microsoft and IBM trying to smother the struggling Apple.  We saw an underdog transform itself into the market leader – all as a result of the inspiration (and perspiration) of one man.

Jobs’ difference was his attention to design and simplicity.  He took what was complex, and reduced it to its purest form, the simplest it could possibly be.  That is a beautiful thing.

It's only appropriate that the first post on my new blog pay tribute to someone who had a big role in inspiring its creation.  Here’s a clip of a presentation I gave on March 30, 2011 in Boston, starting with the story of a man whose name has become synonymous with innovation.  THIS is how I remember Steve Jobs: