Complex things are not inherently valuable.
Valuable things are not inherently complex.
This is an idea from Oliver Burkeman’s latest work, Meditations for Mortals, that created a palpable shift in how I approach work.
When we confuse complexity for being a measure of value, we invariably gravitate towards over complicating things — we build more intricate systems and seek more detailed solutions that are all, critically, more intricate and detailed than truly necessary in the hopes of producing something ever more significant and helpful.
In the end, and the sweet irony of this approach, is that in making things more complex we can often end up producing something meaningfully less — not more — valuable.
The best solution isn’t necessarily the most detailed or the one that requires the most effort, it’s the one that best addresses the heart of the problem.
Sometimes, such a solution really can be remarkably simple and easy to provide.
But we can’t even begin to be open to this possibility for as long as we believe that simple and easy things can’t possibly be profound and impactful.
