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Simplicity
Simplicity is THE classic work about making the complicated simple, from world-renowned writer and philosopher Edward de Bono. From confusing manuals to uninterpretable jargon to bureaucratic red-tape, modern life can be highly complicated and frustrating. For many of us it is almost impossible to make sense of. In Simplicity, lateral-thinking guru Edward de Bono shows us how to bring simplicity into our increasingly complicated lives. Through his ten rules of simplicity, he encourages us to be creative and break down the complex into manageable and recognisable parts. By making the complicated simple, you will free up time, reduce stress and make better decisions. 'An inspiring man with brilliant ideas. De Bono never ceases to amaze with his clarity of thought' Sir Richard Branson Edward de Bono invented the concept of lateral thinking. A world-renowned writer and philosopher, he is the leading authority in the field of creative thinking and the direct teaching of thinking as a skill. Dr de Bono has written more than 60 books, in 40 languages, with people now teaching his methods worldwide. He has chaired a special summit of Nobel Prize laureates, and been hailed as one of the 250 people who have contributed most to mankind. Dr de Bono's titles include classic bestsellers such as Six Thinking Hats, Lateral Thinking, I Am Right You Are Wrong, Teach Yourself How To Think, Teach Your Child How To Think, and Simplicity. www.edwdebono.com
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1993
78 people are currently reading
991 people want to read
About the author
Edward de Bono
233 books1,146 followersEdward de Bono was a Maltese physician, author, inventor, and consultant. He is best known as the originator of the term lateral thinking (structured creativity) and the leading proponent of the deliberate teaching of thinking in schools.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
September 5, 2024
Should have been an essay.
April 23, 2018
The ideas are in no way new for the current generation given the plethora of self help coaches and gurus. However the presentation of those ideas in this book is clean and direct with relevant examples. It's the kind of book which you would want to keep a copy of in your personal drawer and use as a reference.
October 30, 2019
Too much.
A book on simplicity that goes on, and on, and on. The author identifies mid-way through the book that he likes writing short books that address the topic, but his publisher makes him write longer ones so they can be bound and sold.
This books should be 10 pages. That’s about all the content that’s not awkward reworking of the same idea.
A good idea, but you get the core message after a couple of chapters.
A book on simplicity that goes on, and on, and on. The author identifies mid-way through the book that he likes writing short books that address the topic, but his publisher makes him write longer ones so they can be bound and sold.
This books should be 10 pages. That’s about all the content that’s not awkward reworking of the same idea.
A good idea, but you get the core message after a couple of chapters.
January 20, 2015
Simplicity – Edward de Bono - A Review :
A book that lived up to its name. It was simple and effective. There were about 10 ‘rules’ of simplicity outlined throughout the book. Combined with ample examples it was a stupendous effort to explain the concept of ‘Simplifying’ (or in de Bono’s words, ‘simping’ – a simpler word for simplifying).
Edward de Bono made me wonder if the existing systems were based on clueless designs and if there was any thought put into them. It can’t be, right? There must have been experts on the subjects who would have deliberated on the solution for days before drawing to a conclusion. But some of his out-of-the-box thinking makes much more sense in theory and is wonderfully simpler than existing practices.
In the first half of the book he touches upon the importance of simplicity and why it should be upheld as a ‘value’. He calls simplicity as focused attention. He urges to think of simplifying a process for simplicity’s sake.
There is a chapter dedicated to people who love complexity ( guilty !! ) People who love complexity have the compulsive need to think that it is complexity that makes things valuable. But Simplicity and Complexity are not always opposing forces. Sometimes processes need to move from simple to complex and back to simple in order to evolve.
In the later parts of the books he gives us some operations to achieve simplicity. There are nearly 12 methods that one can adopt. Not every method is unique. There are overlaps and this makes it easy to mix and match the approaches.
Towards the end, Edward de Bono calls out to readers for The Edward de Bono National Simplicity Campaign. I am unsure about the authenticity of this campaign that promises rewards to contributors.
Although he claims that his concept is applicable in general, all his cases seem to revolve around examples set in supermarkets, production chains, and ticketing systems. There is little to no mention of how to apply simplicity techniques for self. De Bono’s examples are apt, but some of the scientific tests mentioned in the books are not given in detail. There is no index of said tests either. Now this is surely going to make it tedious for me to research on those tests.
I would love to quote almost the entire book. Every point in it was brilliant and had some absolute truths in it. The best portion is the TLDR version of the book especially designed for the lazy (read extremely creative). A book to be read with an open-mind and willingness to change.
A book that lived up to its name. It was simple and effective. There were about 10 ‘rules’ of simplicity outlined throughout the book. Combined with ample examples it was a stupendous effort to explain the concept of ‘Simplifying’ (or in de Bono’s words, ‘simping’ – a simpler word for simplifying).
Edward de Bono made me wonder if the existing systems were based on clueless designs and if there was any thought put into them. It can’t be, right? There must have been experts on the subjects who would have deliberated on the solution for days before drawing to a conclusion. But some of his out-of-the-box thinking makes much more sense in theory and is wonderfully simpler than existing practices.
In the first half of the book he touches upon the importance of simplicity and why it should be upheld as a ‘value’. He calls simplicity as focused attention. He urges to think of simplifying a process for simplicity’s sake.
There is a chapter dedicated to people who love complexity ( guilty !! ) People who love complexity have the compulsive need to think that it is complexity that makes things valuable. But Simplicity and Complexity are not always opposing forces. Sometimes processes need to move from simple to complex and back to simple in order to evolve.
“The easiest way to be superior is to pretend to understand what others cannot understand. For that you need complexity.”
“Richness is intended to be its own value, just as a rich sauce is intended to be a rich sauce. Complexity, as such, is not intended to be its own values. Complexity is a complex way of doing something where the value lies in what is being done, not in the way of doing it. Complexity is the absence of simplicity.”
In the later parts of the books he gives us some operations to achieve simplicity. There are nearly 12 methods that one can adopt. Not every method is unique. There are overlaps and this makes it easy to mix and match the approaches.
Towards the end, Edward de Bono calls out to readers for The Edward de Bono National Simplicity Campaign. I am unsure about the authenticity of this campaign that promises rewards to contributors.
Although he claims that his concept is applicable in general, all his cases seem to revolve around examples set in supermarkets, production chains, and ticketing systems. There is little to no mention of how to apply simplicity techniques for self. De Bono’s examples are apt, but some of the scientific tests mentioned in the books are not given in detail. There is no index of said tests either. Now this is surely going to make it tedious for me to research on those tests.
I would love to quote almost the entire book. Every point in it was brilliant and had some absolute truths in it. The best portion is the TLDR version of the book especially designed for the lazy (read extremely creative). A book to be read with an open-mind and willingness to change.
April 23, 2015
Simplicity is value itself, not many people realize that. Till this book I never really gave thought on simplicity as value. This book explains in details why simplicity is important in everything we do and why one should always strive to do things as simple as possible. Very insightful book, at the end de Bono gives The Ten Rules of Simplicity. They go as follows:
1. You need to put a very high value on simplicity
2. You must be determined to seek simplicity.
3. You need to understand the matter very well.
4. You need to design alternatives and possibilities.
5. You need to challenge and discard existing elements.
6. You need to be prepared to start over again.
7. You need to use concepts.
8. You may need to break things down into smaller units.
9. You need to be prepared to trade off other values for simplicity.
10. You need to know for whose sake the simplicity is being designed.
All in all, great book on simplicity.
1. You need to put a very high value on simplicity
2. You must be determined to seek simplicity.
3. You need to understand the matter very well.
4. You need to design alternatives and possibilities.
5. You need to challenge and discard existing elements.
6. You need to be prepared to start over again.
7. You need to use concepts.
8. You may need to break things down into smaller units.
9. You need to be prepared to trade off other values for simplicity.
10. You need to know for whose sake the simplicity is being designed.
All in all, great book on simplicity.
August 12, 2016
Currently half way through this book: on chapter 9 (page 159)
“The real purpose of thinking is to abolish thinking.” (19)
The L game
Page 55-57: Simplicity is not easy (the basis of humour)
Page 65 – Complexity has its value
103 – The difference between a value and a benefit
119 - 'zero-based' assessment
Page 123 - the challenge process
The lazier a person is, the more likely is that person to seek simpler ways to do things. (126)
151 - Perhaps the most powerful concept is 'you are giving yourself a present'
“The real purpose of thinking is to abolish thinking.” (19)
The L game
Page 55-57: Simplicity is not easy (the basis of humour)
Page 65 – Complexity has its value
103 – The difference between a value and a benefit
119 - 'zero-based' assessment
Page 123 - the challenge process
The lazier a person is, the more likely is that person to seek simpler ways to do things. (126)
151 - Perhaps the most powerful concept is 'you are giving yourself a present'
February 14, 2023
Some helpful insights, but I found the style of writing a bit grating. The author wanted to write a book on simplicity yet he used clunky phrases like "not uncommon" instead of the simpler "common," for example. Also, I don't know whether it was just my edition but I hated the formatting of the book - having summaries on the left page was distracting and hardly "simple." I know this review isn't really about the content of the book, but I feel that if a book is written on simplicity, it needs to be simple at every level.
March 11, 2010
'In order to make something simple you have to know your subject very well indeed.' In this age of info tech, there is a drive to constantly reinvent the wheel without any real analysis of the problem. This book does not only discuss the beauty of simplicity but does it without damning the sometimes essential complex process required to simplify a system.
May 19, 2019
I very much enjoyed the overriding ideas presented in this book. Simplicity is something that at all times should be strived for because through simplifying we can turn our eye towards further improvement and achievement. I felt that at times the book was repetitive or phrasing the same ideas in a different way, which is where it loses a couple of stars.
July 20, 2008
The title itself represent the book. Mainly this book focuses on how to simplify things.. As for me, engineering taught me about complexity, but simplicity do occur in complexity. It make us realize, life is simple as you know how to manage. A must read book!
July 18, 2020
Un libro muy interesante... desde la impresión: las páginas a la izquierda está impresa en letras mucho más grandes que la derecha y va; resumiendo a veces, agregando o puntualizando cosas en otras; en correlación con las páginas del lado derecho. Para personas como yo, que tendemos a complicar las cosas, es invaluable la información... pero va mucho más allá de ayudarte a ver lo que puedes simplificar... vivimos en un mundo complejo y a veces por los costos de simplificar, la simplicidad es infravalorada. Hay partes del libro donde habla sobre creatividad, diferentes tipos de pensamiento, las razones de la comicidad... porque todo esto sucede por nuestros procesos mentales. Al final, hay valor inerente en simplificar, pero no todo se debe simplificar... hay cosas complejas que nos conviene dejarlas así porque eso agrega valor... o porque así lo deseamos. Y también, simplicidad viene del entendimiento profundo de las cosas... si no viene de ahí estaremos cayendo en ser simplistas, que no es lo mismo. Si alguno de estos conceptos te resuena, este es un gran libro. Definitivamente quiero leer más de Edward de Bono :)
April 16, 2018
THERE IS NEVER ANY JUSTIFICATION FOR THINGS BEING COMPLEX WHEN THEY COULD BE SIMPLE.
An expert is someone who has succeeded in making decisions and judgements simpler through knowing what to pay attention to and what to ignore.
Cartoonists are always facing the challenge to simplify.
The main aim of communication is clarity and simplicity.
Simplicity is hard work if you dont know the subject well.
Simplistic approaches miss the true complexity of the situation.
Over-simplificiation means you have simplified the matter too much and have left out important aspects of it.
Most things survive because they are adequate, rather than being the best way of doing something.
The important thing is to reward effort, not results.
The 3 main reasons behind any decision are; fear, greed and hassle.
Above the level of 'struggling to survive'we are all far more pressured by opportunities than by other pressures. We ought to...
The attraction of the simple life is that you are no longer bullied by opportunities and excitements.
An expert is someone who has succeeded in making decisions and judgements simpler through knowing what to pay attention to and what to ignore.
Cartoonists are always facing the challenge to simplify.
The main aim of communication is clarity and simplicity.
Simplicity is hard work if you dont know the subject well.
Simplistic approaches miss the true complexity of the situation.
Over-simplificiation means you have simplified the matter too much and have left out important aspects of it.
Most things survive because they are adequate, rather than being the best way of doing something.
The important thing is to reward effort, not results.
The 3 main reasons behind any decision are; fear, greed and hassle.
Above the level of 'struggling to survive'we are all far more pressured by opportunities than by other pressures. We ought to...
The attraction of the simple life is that you are no longer bullied by opportunities and excitements.
June 28, 2018
the book revolves around its title ofcourse, but the ideas in it would seem redundant.it gives an insight into the importance of simplicity and how it is different from simplistic or oversimplifying.
i also liked how he has sticked to what he says and thus has kept the book very clean and simple. so that when you read it, you ll feel like this book is not meant for intellectuals.( because its so simple and not complex which will challenge your intellect) but i understood that the knowledge this book provides is immense.
i also liked how he has sticked to what he says and thus has kept the book very clean and simple. so that when you read it, you ll feel like this book is not meant for intellectuals.( because its so simple and not complex which will challenge your intellect) but i understood that the knowledge this book provides is immense.
January 29, 2022
This is a surprisingly SIMPLE read (not being simplistic).
I have been a follower of Edward de Bono for years and have not read this book before. However, this book confirms my years of simplifying work processes and reaffirms my principles of doing so without prior knowledge of the contents herein. Therefore I can confidently confirm and support the contents of this book as they are a reality for me!
I have been a follower of Edward de Bono for years and have not read this book before. However, this book confirms my years of simplifying work processes and reaffirms my principles of doing so without prior knowledge of the contents herein. Therefore I can confidently confirm and support the contents of this book as they are a reality for me!
September 26, 2023
Some quotes
P. 6 You have to want to look for simplicity. You have to be motivated to design simplicity. Whose business is it to make things more simple?
P. 60 Simplicity is even more important as a permanent habit of mind - as a style of thinking.
P. 112 If something is not a problem it does not get any thinking time.
P. 228 If you do not fit into any of the simple boxes you will be unfairly forced into one of them - or ignored completely.
P. 6 You have to want to look for simplicity. You have to be motivated to design simplicity. Whose business is it to make things more simple?
P. 60 Simplicity is even more important as a permanent habit of mind - as a style of thinking.
P. 112 If something is not a problem it does not get any thinking time.
P. 228 If you do not fit into any of the simple boxes you will be unfairly forced into one of them - or ignored completely.
August 2, 2023
Coincides with previous books
The essence of the whole book is in the last chapter as mentioned, if you've read his other books I would recommend to jump to that section and start valuing simplicity now , the methods are given from 7th chapter ,have a glance.
Overall the book is really great 👍 especially the tree 🌴 metaphor
The essence of the whole book is in the last chapter as mentioned, if you've read his other books I would recommend to jump to that section and start valuing simplicity now , the methods are given from 7th chapter ,have a glance.
Overall the book is really great 👍 especially the tree 🌴 metaphor
July 29, 2017
This book mainly introduced the value of simplicity and methods that can be used for simplification.
The ten rules of simplicity in Chapter 15 summarized the main idea of the book very well.
I think some of the methods and rules may be really useful in consulting.
The ten rules of simplicity in Chapter 15 summarized the main idea of the book very well.
I think some of the methods and rules may be really useful in consulting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 20, 2019
Simplicity is in the shadow of lots of things which the book explains. That's why i think the book have written in a fanatical way, contains a lot of repetition.
It helped me refreshing my enthusiasm on simplicity.
First book i have read from him. Looking for more.
It helped me refreshing my enthusiasm on simplicity.
First book i have read from him. Looking for more.
September 10, 2017
Thought provoking.
October 17, 2017
nice way to think
October 30, 2017
somehow i felt he is repeating the same idea more than once .
February 3, 2019
Un libro muy interesante al estilo De Bono en donde explica las bondades de la simplicidad y como obtenerla.
September 5, 2019
Reread and buy
November 7, 2019
Maybe I'm just not cut out for this genre.
December 12, 2019
Edward De Bono is a little dry in his writing style but certainly worth a read. If we could all create more simplicity in our work and daily lives the world would be a different place.
January 6, 2023
Un excelente libro del que he aprendido mucho, ya que aunque varios de los conceptos parecen ser obvios, es facil perderlos de vista.
Lo recomiendo mucho
Lo recomiendo mucho
August 2, 2023
As a book it's really a 3 star read. But the idea behind it is marvelous and so so important!!
Many workplaces need these lessons.
Many workplaces need these lessons.
March 2, 2017
Well, you'd think that a book about simlicity is per definitionem simple, consise, to the point, right? Wrong. Endless, babbling, repetitive and chaotic. The subject, however important and expertly approached, could have been dealt with on 20 pages. But who'd buy a 20-pager fir the price of a book then?
April 1, 2012
Being my first read for de Bono, I actually liked the book, I find the way of explaining the idea is quite as the title "simple" and comprehensive enough for us as community workers and developers to work out the idea or the value of "Simplicity" into our lives in large scales as in our country or smaller scales as our peer groups and organizations ...
I do recommend the book, for whoever need to adapt the value of simplicity in Business or Community organization, however I would not recommend it for personals looking mainly towards a more simple life style, the concepts in the book CAN be used in personal lives, but to sum it up, it's not what the book was Mainly made for, so if you're looking to develop your life AND your society or community, then this book will tell you all about how to have Simplicity as a key value in your life.
I do recommend the book, for whoever need to adapt the value of simplicity in Business or Community organization, however I would not recommend it for personals looking mainly towards a more simple life style, the concepts in the book CAN be used in personal lives, but to sum it up, it's not what the book was Mainly made for, so if you're looking to develop your life AND your society or community, then this book will tell you all about how to have Simplicity as a key value in your life.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews