Simplicity Beats Clever. Applied Improv fuelling AI
Hello momentum builders
This week I reviewed an AI solution full of bells and whistles. Honesty, the number of knobs and buttons and sliders made Concorde’s cockpit look like child's play. So many parameters and constraints pushing and pulling against each other, important in their own way, collectively combining to reach an optimal, nay, perfect answer.
In simple terms, this was way too complicated. It had grown from many too many chefs each throwing their many ingredients into the cooking pot . Each suggesting a stir here, a whisk there, and blend, mix, fold, boil and simmer creating an indigestible slop.
Far too many variables, each one an inviting rabbit hole to distraction.
Oh the noise of it all.
"Simple can be harder than complex... But it's worth it in the end" Steve Jobs
Stepping back, we asked what is this really serving, this perfect unmappable solution? And can it be done more simply?
Instead of continuing the justification of the difficult, the solution was stripped back to two core values and, guess what… the new AI solution was easier to understand, simpler to audit, to far easier to explain. Most importantly, it became tangible, relevant and genuinely informative to decision makers. It became useful.
Einstein, a clever man who kept things simple, probably said something wise about this.
Have you ever sat in a restaurant staring dull-eyed at a monster menu, undecided on what to eat because there’s too much choice? It’s the same thing.
Often it is the simplest ideas that create the momentum, that keep teams’ endeavours relevant and keep projects on track.
Which is why in improv we can't stress enough that simplicity is key to success.
Get to the Core
Aim: To practice stripping complex ideas down to their absolute bare essentials under constraints.
Outcome: Participants learn to isolate core value drivers, making complex project proposals easier to communicate, audit, and execute.
How it works:
Brainstorm for 60 seconds feature ideas for a new app. Gather 5-6 bloated ideas.
Person A has 60 seconds to pitch the entire complex app-product incorporating as many of the features as possible.
Person B (facilitator) pauses the conversation and asks: "If this could only do two things to solve our main problem, what are they?"
Person A must instantly strip the pitch down to just two core values/features and re-pitch it in 15 seconds
