I am having a hard time wrapping my head around this. I need to know more about what you do, because this life sounds amazing.

And when I read the bit about research/ learning, I knew exactly what you meant. A keen difference, but simplicity wins. Of course, you know the precision it takes to research and the precision it takes to learn.

Hey Sebastian, thanks for bringing this up, very useful reminder.

I always found Einstein's quote "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." to be a great guiding principle for anything I do, but especially useful in my engineering/startups endeavors.

Reflecting on "Simplicity Vs Precision" I wondered if it was really about Precision or maybe something else. You wrote:

"That’s why we build and do more complex things – to get more precise, specific outcomes"

But why do you want more precise, specific outcomes? To follow your example, if I were to split "Research" and "Learning" in two fields, would I do that for the sake of precision/granularity? Or would I do it because of a temptation to achieve perfection, or have maximum control, or fear of missing something out?

Michael mentioned a "huge temptation to solve every problem at once" and I think he's onto something there. I wholeheartedly agree with "Choose simplicity unless there’s a good reason not to.", but I think that most people have problems with that statement due to unconscious temptations/feelings: risking to be perceived as naive by presenting a simple solution or giving up control because of what feel like blunt tools is enough of a good reason to increase complexity. Feeling in control is emotionally a big gain.

This is where I think the "not simpler" in Einstein's quote comes to the rescue. Based on conversions I've had the concept of simplicity seems to be an easy sell when you don't have the responsibility on the outcome. On the other hand decision makers will always find themselves at unease when facing that same topic.

When we have to pick what we track we are decision makers and it seems to me we react better to the proposition of "not simpler" or "enough complexity" than straight up "simplicity". Behind the scene it's the same thing, but it might help some of us to avoid rejecting this great principle.

@spikelab