Lifehacker pointed to a blog post on two different types of people, simplifiers ad complexifiers, and asks whether "you make things more complicated." I found a few of the comments on Lifehacker's post pretty interesting though. First, to quote the original article:
"Complexifiers are adverse to reduction. Their instincts are to turn simple assignments into quagmires, and to reject simple ideas until they're buried (or asphyxiated) in layers of abstraction....They take pride in consuming more bandwidth, time, and patience than needed, and expect rewards for it.
Simplifiers strive on concision...They find ways to communicate complex ideas in simple terms without losing the idea's essence or power."
Here are a few of the comments I found interesting:
AKthe47 says:
It's often the case that 'complexifiers' make things more complicated in the hopes of analyzing a problem into its base components so that a similar problem can be resolved much more quickly.
arul_v says:
This categorizing into "complexifiers" and "simplifiers" is a perfect example of how trying to trivially simplify inherently complex things can lead to wrong results.
tnoetz01 says:
Anyone who tries to lump the entire globe into two categories is usually wrong. Simple enough for you?
I can only speak for myself, but I would put myself into the complexifier category and I don't think that one of these categories is
better than the other. I also agree with the comments above. First of all, whenever I start a project that I know is going to take me a
long time to learn or implement, I always think about the future benefits of the initial implementation. It may take me a long time to
execute now but the next time I do it I will have beat the learning curve and made it simpler not just for myself, but for anybody else
who wants to benefit from my work.
I also agree that it is too much to classify people into two categories. I may consider myself a complexifier but I also see benefit in
collaboration with people who are not like me. I prefer to work with people who have opposite strengths than I do because their
strengths and my strengths make up a better whole outcome. Therefore you need complexifiers and simplifiers working together in order to
attack a project at all angles.
Speaking as if there are only two types of people in the world (which we know that there isn't), the original author of this post
negates the contributions of the complexifier, however the complexifier is better at different things than a simplifier. I believe that
both can take a problem and simplify it to its most basic parts, but a complexifier is able to wrap their heads around truly complex
problems, especially problems that do not have one straight answer. Speaking as somebody whose mind is constantly racing with different
thoughts, calculations, and scenarios, it's necessary for complexifiers to go through ever aspect of those thoughts and not
completely settle on the "simplest" answer, but rather the "best" answer. I would even reason to guess that
complexifiers are more adapt to thinking outside the box than simplifiers. Complexifiers like to brainstorm their ideas, sometimes
verbally, and I believe that a lot of great ideas can come out of those thoughts...even some of the most abstract ones.
There's room for all sorts of people in a workplace, the key is to understand where you fit in, and if you're a manager, to
understand how others fit into your organization.
