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When you’ve considered every possibility that you can imagine,
it’s quite possible that you’ve overlooked something obvious.

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We have a natural tendency to make things harder than they are. I’m not sure why; but overall we gravitate toward complexity more frequently than simplicity.

This habit is amplified when trying to solve problems or resolve issues. We are drawn to analysis, research and consultation. If simple works, why discard it in favor of exhaustive exploration of other options?

The Hidden-In-Plain-Sight glitch bites us all from time to time and we stumble. It is particularly troublesome when we are pressured or stressed. Perplexed, we dig deeper for answers. Frustrated, we retrace our steps and recalculate our equations. Unwavering, the dead-end persists.

In times when it seems that we have become our own roadblock, it might serve us best to back up. Back up for just a brief moment and work in reverse. SIMPLIFY! Making things complex is easy. Making things simple, concise, or straight-forward, takes a purposeful effort.

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Gestalt psychologist, Karl Duncker, presented a basic problem solving experiment in a group study. Participants were shown a table next to an adjacent wall. Duncker had placed a candle, a box of matches and a box of thumb tacks on the table along with these instructions:

ATTACH THE CANDLE TO THE WALL.

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The solution is simple. INCREDIBLY simple! But, the attempted solutions of many participants were elaborate and complex. As the illustration of Duncker’s Candle Experiment has been shared and used through the years, even the set up and instructions have become more complex.

I’m not sure why, but human nature appears bent toward taking something simple and making it increasingly difficult. Back up. . . for just a brief moment, back up and SIMPLIFY!

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“That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity.
Simple can be harder than complex:
You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.
But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there,
you can move mountains.”
– Steve Jobs

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Go Back to: POSSIBILITIES: STATEMENT #1
Return to: 10 THINGS I BELIEVE ABOUT POSSIBILITIES

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