The law of entropy:
All system tends towards disorder over time.
If we want to keep them orderly – to resist entropy – then we need to exert conscious effort to do this.
But what does disorder look like?
Without any context, we might picture:
- Loose, poorly defined processes.
- Free-form ways of doing things.
- Scattershot approaches that create inconsistent results.
Yes: sometimes, this is how disorder manifests – as systems which have disintegrated over time, leaving nothing but a residue of chaos behind.
But that kind of chaos is easy to spot. Particularly for anyone new coming onto the scene: gaps are obvious. And given our natural tendencies to plan, plug holes, and “make things better”, we’ll usually go ahead and patch over those problems.
This creates disorder of its own kind. Much less visible, but just as problematic.
We might think that, the more people who touch something & the more often a process is repeated, the smoother it gets.
It’s a nice idea. One that doesn’t tend to play out in reality.
Rather than simplifying over time – boiling things down to their essential ingredients and stripping away everything else – we make them more complex.
The more complex something grows, the more fragile it is…
The more resources it takes to maintain it, employ it, improve it, or even think about it.
And the more likely it is to lull us into a false sense of security. One where we’ve fallen for the lie that complexity is a safeguard against chaos.
When we’re in the thick of things, we don’t notice complexity creeping in.
It rarely happens all in one go.
Instead, it builds up over time… little by little.
I add another step.
You spend a little more time on the setup to cover more potential use cases.
Someone else tweaks another part to suit their particular needs.
Then, one day, we see it all at once – and wonder how we got here.
But because we’ve grown used to it over time, simplifying is easier said than done.
Creation is exciting. It’s visible contribution – and it’s a chance to put our stamp on the world.
Deletion is harder. It’s invisible, often thankless… and creates the potential for friction with the creators of the work we’re removing.
If it’s not broken, why would we fix it? Better to keep our heads down and get on with the task at hand.
This is how we’re wired. But if our goal is impact (to have systems, tools, organisations and processes that support great work) – our commitment can’t be to maintaining the status quo.
Our focus needs to be on radical, effective simplicity.
Some things fall apart over time.
Other things stiffen up.
Avoiding both forms of disorder is the key to lasting success – no matter what we’re pursuing.