Best Ideas are Simplest

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough. If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor.” Albert Einstein

“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

“The greatest ideas are the simplest.” William Golding, Lord of the Flies

“A little simplification would be the first step toward rational living.” Eleanor Roosevelt

Avoid philosophical discussion

Americans do not engage in a discussion about the essence of a decision to be made. If a discussion does takes place about the decision in and of itself, however, it is strictly for the purpose of defining who and/or what is to be served by making a good decision.

Americans invest less time on identifying how a particular decision fits into the broader picture. Their approach to all decisions is primarily motived by pragmatism. Decisions lead to actions, which in turn lead to further decisions to be made. Americans avoid getting weighted down in what they view as over-analysis. Forward movement is of priority.

English Composition

Americans learn as early as in grammar school to break down complexity. They are taught in English Composition to formulate short, simple and clear sentences ordered in a logical sequence. Good composition avoids sentences with complex grammatical twists and turns. Simplicity and clarity are the goals.

Complexity: The state of quality of being intricate or complicated; a factor involved in a complicated process of situation.

Grammatical twists and turns: Convoluted structures in the English language that often obscure meaning for the reader: 

“Although the blue whale has been protected for over thirty years and its numbers are increasing, especially in the North Pacific, where whale hunting has been banned, it is still at risk of extinction as its habitat is being polluted by waste from oil tankers and its main food, the plankton, is being killed off by harmful rays from the sun, which can penetrate the earth’s atmosphere because there is a huge whole in the ozone layer over Antarctica.”

Ernest Hemingway, considered to be one of America’s greatest writers, shied away from convolution in grammar and style. He never used big words or complicated sentences, yet he succeeded in painting vivid images. Overly sophisticated does not necessarily equate to good writing.

Scope Creep

Scope creep is when a task or project grows beyond its original intent, requiring more people, time and money than originally planned. It is typically a result of poor task definition, change control or internal communication. A precisely defined decision limits scope creep.

Scope: The extent of the area or subject matter that something deals with or to which it is relevant; the opportunity or possibility to do or deal with something.

Creep: To move slowly and carefully, especially in order to avoid being heard or noticed; moving very slowly at a steady pace; occur or develop gradually and almost imperceptibly; increase slowly but steadily in number or amount. Old English crēopan, meaning to “move with the body close to the ground”. Of Germanic origin; related to Dutch kruipen.

According to Economic Recovery Measures, Financial Rescues Have Only Temporary Impact by Kathy Ruffing and James R. Horney from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Bush-era tax cuts and its extension during the Obama presidency, in addition to the deficit-financed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, account for “almost half of the $18 trillion in debt that, under current policies, the nation will owe by 2019.” Deficit-creep.

Timotheus Höttges

In a May 2015 article Deutsche Telekom CEO Timotheus Höttges was asked what his biggest management mistake had been thusfar in his career. 

Höttges responded that in his days as the head of T-Mobile Germany back at the beginning of the 2000s, he was very motivated and came up with at least one new idea every day of the week. 

He admitted to demanding too much of the managers and employees. In doing so he overwhelmed the entire company. Höttges said that he had learned over the years. Today he focuses only on what has been agreed upon. Even if he has ten other good ideas.

Short. Mid. Long.

Germans think mid- to long-term. Short-term thinking and action is almost always viewed negatively. Germans associate short-term with ungrounded, fleeting, incomplete. When they make decisions they want to know, at least anticipate, what the effect (Auswirkungen) will be in other areas, on other processes, on other colleagues. They strive to understand the mid to long term effects.

Middle High German vrist. Old High German frist: what is current, about to occur; time period in which something should happen; to postpone briefly. Kurz- , mittel- , langfristig means short- , mid- , long-term.

Fragestellung

A Fragestellung is literally a question formulation. It is the definition of the question to be addressed. Before Germans make a decision – answer a question – they place great effort into first being sure that they have a common understanding of the decision to be made, of the question to be answered.

From the German point of view it is not enough to be capable of making decisions, to answer complex questions intelligently, if you haven’t first defined accurately the decision to be made, the question to be answered.

Germans engage in a discussion upfront about: What is the nature of the decision we are about to make? What are its implications for other areas of our work? Are we addressing the right question? Are we in agreement about what decision we are making and why?

Schmal (narrow): Old High German smal: small, narrow; narrow in width, as seen in profile; little, few, not enough, bare, barren.

Breit (wide): Of greater length in profile; as in size(s), measurements, a certain width; large, stretched; in large measure.

The German word schmal is often used to describe poor performance, low quality, something deficient. An engineer who does delivers poor results is referred to as a Schmalspuringenieur, literally a narrow lane engineer. A Schmalspurforscher is a scientist who has achieved little professionally. Schmalbrüstig – literally small or narrow in the chest – is someone who is unathletic.

Grundsätzlich: Relating to what is foundational; in accordance with a principle, in principle; actual, fundamentally; in general, as a rule.

The German people are serious. They value principles, deep-felt beliefs. Er hat keine Prinzipien. He has no principles, is a very serious criticism in the German context. To have no principles, to have no values, which guide one in their behavior, is considered to be a sign of weak character. Germans tend to have discussions about bottom-line thinking, beliefs, and principles.

The German political parties have their Grundsatzprogramm, their foundational political principles, which are formulated for the long term. The Grundsatzprogramm encompasses their foundational political beliefs, upon which the specifics of their political platform are formulated. Their election campaigns are closely aligned with these ideas. The Grundsatzprogramm is seldom modified. To go against it, to follow a political course which strays from it, invites internal rebuke and sanction.

Overview

Overview. The view from an elevated point, from which one can see across an expanse.

Ich habe den Überblick verloren. I have lost overview. Er überblickt die Sache nicht mehr. He no longer has an overview of the situation. These are statements one often hears in Germany. The details, and the kinds of details, have become too great to maintain an understanding of the situation. Germans place high value on Überblick (overview), on understanding a situation as a whole, as a system.

Überblick is especially important in those professions where the details are critical: air traffic controllers, project management, every kind of logistical coordination.

Durchblick: Literally through-view; view, perspective between, through, into a situation; to grasp the interrelations, connections, mutual influences.

Er hat den Durchblick. He has through-view. Er blickt da voll durch. He totally sees through the situation. Blicken Sie durch? Do you have through-view? These are typical sentences in German. Those who “see through” know what they’re talking about, understand both the details and the big picture. A Durchblicker knows a topic through and through and is on the path to becoming a true expert.

Durchblick is expecially important in those professions where a high level of expertise is demanded, such as in the natural sciences, nuclear physics, in the most sophisticated areas of surgery.

Umsicht: Literally view around. Intelligent, goal-oriented awareness of all important factors necessary to make wise, reflected decisions.

The Germans are considered to be people with Umsicht. They avoid unnecessary risk, shy away from situations involving factors which they cannot calculate. “Vorsicht ist die Mutter der Porzellankiste” (Carefulness is the mother of the porcelain) is a well-known German figure of speech. Germans are careful, umsichtig (aware of their surroundings). They take their time, proceed tentatively.

Umsicht is especially important in those areas where mistakes have significant negative effects: airline pilots, train conductors, legislators, and of course medical physicians.

herunterbrechen

The Germans speak good to very good English. This, however, can lead to them importing English terms literally into German: “to break down” becomes herunterbrechen, as in to break down a complex topic into its component parts.

But just because a term can be literally translated into another language does not mean that the thinking behind that term fits into the other culture’s way of thinking.

In fact, Germans do not consider it helpful to take complexity and break it down (herunterbrechen) into its component parts. They aim to do the opposite, to see particulars in their interrelationships, in their mutual influences. They look for patterns, strive to understand complexity as a whole, as a system. Germans do not break down, instead they tie together.

In this sense, herunterbrechen is a form of corruption, of turning, twisting, convoluting a complex reality. Instead of simplifying complexity, the Germans enter into it, in order to understand it, to work with it as it is.

“what holds the world together”

System. Latin systema, Greek sýstēma. A whole made up of many pieces linked together; put together, link, place together; a theoretical scheme.

For Germans the particulars of a system define themselves through their relation to each other. Particulars can only be understand through their relationships, connections, mutual influences. The particular is only significant and understandable as a part of a system. Latin particularis, a part, a minority.

“Do you recognize the system here?” is asked to test whether an event is based on coincidence. Whereas a system explains events as the logical occurrence of individual interactions.

See below Will Quadflieg and the legendary Gustaf Gründgens – Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg, 1960

The Germans are inclined to say: Everything has its cause. Everything is linked to everything else. Nothing is coincidence. The world is a huge system. The Germans believe in systems, in an explanation behind all phenomena.

They seek out those systems. As Johann von Goethe stated in Faust: “to understand what at the deepest level holds the world together.“