Have you ever given up trying to programme your video recorder or use a feature on your computer because the instructions are so complicated? Or wondered why it is so difficult to fill a tax form?
Modern life can be unnecessarily frustrating. Needless systems, processes, legislation and red-tape only serve to increase our anxiety. Here Edward de Bono, the originator of lateral thinking, shows us how we can bring a little simplicity into our complex lives.
The challenge of achieving simplicity requires a lot of creative techniques, including historical review, which asks whether something we traditionally take for granted is still necessary; shedding, where we eliminate what cannot be justified; bulk and exceptions, which deals separately with majority and extreme cases; and reframing, which can make us realize we are seeking solutions to a non-problem.
Edward de Bono concludes his thought-provoking study with ten rules for simplicity, and ground-breaking plans for an Institute of Simplicity and National Simplicity Campaign.