Simple: Conquering the Crisis of Complexity
By Pam Nochlin
Interesting and informative event by the Financial Communications Society with Alan Siegel (of Siegel + Gale) and Irene Etzkorn who co-wrote simple: conquering the crisis of complexity.According to Alan, (who was dubbed “Mr. Plain English” by People magazine) and Irene, “complexity has a dramatic negative impact on people’s lives and robs us of time, patience understanding, money and optimism.”
Other take aways:
Simplicity is about essence – cutting to what matters, delivering substantive content that seems to speak to an audience of one
Simplicity shortens the distance between people
The key to breakthrough simplicity is to question the content and make sure it reflects reality
Simplicity has gone from frill to a business necessity, providing significant business benefits
Companies that simplify improve their relationship with customers
Consumers are fighting back when they sense a company is hoodwinking them through a fog of fine print
People mistakenly believe more information equals greater clarity
Too much information overwhelms people
To connect with people you have to speak their language
When internal jargon finds it ways into external communication, companies are in effect talking to themselves in public
