To Be Simple is To Be Sublime

The move towards simplicity gathers momentum.

Harvard's Prof. Rosabeth Moss Kanter writes that the next big thing is simplicity itself. This view is absolutely spot-on - and right after my heart. I've long lamented the propensity of companies - particularly in the technology industry - to overengineer their products, and predicted that the tide will turn decisively toward simplicity. The trend towards simplicity has begun a while ago, and has been gathering momentum for some time now. Quite simply, that's the way to go.

A State of 'Perpetual' Disruption?

We live in disruptive times.

John Hagel, John Seely Brown and Lang Davison have recently advanced an intriguing proposition: That, driven by constant changes in technology, regulation, globalization and so forth, the historical 'punctuated equilibrium' worldview is now just that - history. In other words, they aver, the world is entering a state of permanent disruption. If this is true, all of us - economists, business folks, and common folk - will have to reconcile to a new reality where events are continuously disruptive, and businesses and institutions are always in a state of flux.

As expected, the horse sense view on this 'Perpetual Disruption' suggestion would be that we should, at the very least, seek much stronger evidence before we admit such a possibility. See my full take on this new idea here.