The Consulting Bible, 2nd Edition

Chapter 8Implementation: Simplicity Over Complexity

Occam's Razor

Franciscan Friar William of Ockham in the early fourteenth century postulated that of several possible solutions to a problem, the simplest is usually the most effective. (To put it into more “scientific” prose: When confronted with varying hypotheses, choose the one with the least assumptions.)

Centuries later, cartoonist Rube Goldberg drew elaborate and complex mechanisms to address the most mundane tasks: He would depict rolling balls, swinging cranes, mousetraps, waterfalls, and dozens of other sequential movements to swat a fly or feed the cat.

Ockham was trying to show the way in a non‐scientific world; Goldberg was trying to show the result of an overly scientific world. An architect by the name of Max Frisch said once that “technology is just a way of organizing the universe so that man won't have to experience it.”

Just as our presence is not a factor in fee‐setting or value, complexity is not a factor, either. Moreover, it is not a factor in the efficacy of our solutions or interventions.

Never promise a number of focus groups, for example (or interviews, or whatever), because these are arbitrary numbers. You need as many focus groups or interviews as necessary to develop the evidence and patterns that will direct your improvements. In interviews, you'll find that after about 20 minutes they become circular. A vice president of R&D once complained to my buyer, the CEO, that I had “only” taken 45 minutes ...