Simplicity

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 in a tax form? Modern life can be unnecessarily frustrating. 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.