John Maeda is a graphic designer and computer scientist. His book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0262134721/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0262134721&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20">The Laws of Simplicity</a>, proposes ten laws for simplifying complex systems in business and life.Think of it as simplicity 101.

Subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful

Technology has made our lives more full, yet at the same time we’ve become uncomfortably “full.”

Simplicity = Sanity

The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction.

1 Reduce

Organization makes a system of many appear fewer.

2 Organize

Savings in time feel like simplicity.

Knowledge makes everything simpler.

4 Learn

Simplicity and complexity need each other.

5 Differences

What lies in the periphery of simplicity is definitely not peripheral.

6 Context

More emotions are better than less.

7 Emotion

Some things can never he made simple.

9 Failure

Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful.

10 The One

In addition to the ten Laws, Maeda offers three Keys to achieving simplicity in the technology domain. 1 AWAY More appears like less by simply moving it far, far away. 2 OPEN Openness simplifies complexity. 3 POWER Use less, gain more.

Three Keys

When in doubt, just remove. But be careful of what you remove. … When it is possible to reduce a system’s functionality without significant penalty, true simplification is realized.

The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through reduction

Simplicity is about the unexpected pleasure derived from what is likely to be insignificant and would otherwise go unnoticed.

What is simplicity about? 

The best designers in the world all squint when they look at something. They squint to see the forest from the trees-to find the right balance. Squint at the world. You will see more, by seeing less.

Squint at the world

When forced to wait, life seems unnecessarily complex. Savings in time feel like simplicity. … A shot from the doctor hurts less when it happens quickly, and even less when we know that the shot will save our lives.

Time Savings

This is true for any object, no matter how difficult. The problem with taking time to learn a task is that you often feel you are wasting time, a violation of the third Law. We are well aware of the dive-in-head-first approach-“I don’t need the instructions, let me just do it.” But in fact this method often takes longer than following the directions in the manual.

Knowledge makes everything simpler

Remember, “Technology and life only become complex if you let it be so.”

These 10 laws about how to reach simplicity and exploit it for better work and life are really enlightening.

John Maeda's book, The Laws of Simplicity, proposes ten laws for simplifying complex systems in business and life. Think of it as simplicity 101.

Understand yourself and those around you.

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Learning & Education

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Society, Arts & Culture

The Laws of Simplicity - John Maeda

Bill thought he’d never leave the comfortable job he’d enjoyed for the past decade. But when another company reached out to him with an offer, it was so intriguing that he took the job.Then the fear set in because he hadn’t started a new job in 10 years. He read <a href="https://hbr.org/books/watkins">The First 90 Days </a>and learned he needed to make an impact fast, so he immediately started trying to solve problems.

Starting A New Job At Mid Career

Two weeks into his new job, Bill had already solved a problem — his first win (?).But he was noticing his coworkers were standoffish. His boss causally mentioned he needed to slow down but didn’t tell him complaints were coming in about his work approach and style.Bill didn’t realize his first win wasn’t actually about accomplishing a goal — it was about how he accomplished his work.

Not Really A Good Start

The first weeks in a new job are when you make your first impression, and it’s hard to change people’s perceptions once they’re developed.Here are five tips on how to transition into a new job, especially if it’s been a long time since you’ve made a move.

So what to do?

This is the most important priority when joining a new company. If you’ve been in a job for a long time, you may not realize how your relationships had a direct impact on your success. When building relationships, you’re building trust, and you can move faster when people trust in your decision-making.First, be as curious about others and their work as they are of you as the “newbie.” Understanding your coworkers’ needs will start the relationship-building process, because your interest alone will leave your them feeling good about your entry.

1. Build Relationships

When you enter a new company, you probably don’t know much about it except what you’ve read to prepare for interviews. Your new colleagues will view you as someone who knows nothing about the business. Spend time learning about the company and its culture.Find out: How does the company make revenue? What products does it sell? How do the products work? What are the quarterly and yearly goals? What metrics are used to measure the company’s success and substantiate its growth? Where is the company headed in the next three to five years?

2. Dig deep into the business.

While building relationships and learning about the company, also ask questions about how others perceive your job to understand their expectations of you, your role, and your overall function.Often, in a Company every one of your stakeholders have a different expectation of your role, and one leader had no idea how he viewed your role or how you could use your skills to bring value to his organization.You would have to spend time aligning everyone on what your role is and isn’t so you could meet their expectations.

3. Understand how others perceive your job.

Understand dependencies and cross-functional workflows to determine who needs something from you and what you depend on to be able to provide it.Who are you providing work output to, and how do your cross-functional stakeholders use it?Ask your manager who are the top 10 cross-functional people your team interacts with.Then, spend time understanding how they view the workflows between the functions and what they need from your role to be successful. Understand the timing of workflows so you can meet deadlines and provide the most value with your work.

4. Learn dependencies.

People take jobs and want to feel connected instantly, but that doesn’t always happen. It’s hard to onboard in any new company and can be even harder to onboard remotely.Give yourself grace to move through the <a href="https://www.ekrfoundation.org/5-stages-of-grief/change-curve/">Kübler-Ross change curve </a>— at first you’ll be excited, then shocked at what may be different or harder in the new job, and then in denial that it’s that different, which can quickly turn into frustration.Each person moves through the curve at a different pace, so be patient, breathe, and try to find one person to connect with if you’re not already paired with a mentor.

5. Give yourself time.

The best way to work through all of these steps is to listen more than you speak and phrase every thought in the form of a question. For example, if you’re in a meeting and you have a great idea, you could say, “I think we should do this.”Instead, phrase your input in the form of a question, like, “I’m curious, have we tried to do this?” If you’re wrong because it failed in the past, you’ll be educated on history and viewed as someone trying to learn. If it has never been tried before and could work, your curiosity makes you a hero.

Finally...

I've often thought to change my job, or simply propose myself as a freelance, and these advices illuminated me

If it’s been a while since you started a new job, you might experience a range of emotions once you start your new position. But those first weeks in a new job are when you make your first impression, and it’s hard to change people’s perceptions once they’re developed. The author presents five tips on how to transition into a new job, especially if it’s been a long time since you’ve made a move. First, focus on relationship-building. Second, do your research on the company and its culture. Third, get a sense of how other people at the company view your role. Fourth, understand dependencies and cross-functional workflows to determine who needs something from you and what you depend on to be able to provide it. Finally, give yourself time to adjust to the new role.

The Laws of Simplicity - John Maeda

Five tips on starting a new job as a mid-career professional

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