The Value of Simplicity - Do You Know What Simple Feels Like?

I am just back from Bhutan and Thailand. I will post more about what I learned on the trip in the coming days, but here is just a quick thought. Simplicity is beautiful.

We gunk up our lives and our work and our desks and our wardrobes and our friendships and our teams and our processes with more complexity and complication than is needed, I think. We need to experience simplicity to really feel it's power and pleasantness.

I stayed for three days in a valley that has no electricity except for a few hours of solar power or power from small individual generators. The valley could have electric, but does not because the wires might harm the threatened Black Neck Cranes who winter there. Underground wiring is not practical and the people have adjusted to this way of life. The rhythm of each day is determined by the season, the sun and moon, and faith, family and friends. I spent six hours tending a small wood stove in my hotel room one afternoon - that was my agenda, keep the fire going.

What's on your agenda for the rest of the week and how elemental is it? Is there a way you can make things simpler so that the extraordinary nature of everyday moments and people can shine?

Managers make things simpler - that is a big part of their job. And so it is for this reason that I recommend all managers visit the tiny kingdom of Bhutan in the future. To make things simpler, we must experience simplicity and how often do we do that?

BTW - don't misinterpret my suggestions about Bhutan and simplicity to mean that the country is somehow backwards or unsophisticated. In some ways, their leadership is quite cutting edge. That said, they are taking the process of modernization at a deliberate pace.

BTW #2 One last invitation to participate in my coaching survey. Now that I am back, I need to get cracking on a couple of books I am working on. One is about coaching and I would love it if you participated in my brief coaching survey about your coaching preferences. The link is here and all participants get a copy of the results. Thanks.

Click Here to take survey

Coaches, too, ought to make things simpler. That is the definition of a catalyst, after all, one who makes things easier.

Comments

[Ivan J. Naranjo]

I enjoyed reading your article and resonated well with your comments. Several years ago, I visited the Galapagos Islands for a month's work of research for my thesis and ran into a similar experience. I visited various islands but only a few are inhabited since it is a national park so there are not too many towns. However, the small towns I visited were very cozy and only had electricity until midnite. At midnite everything shut off and only a few tourist's spots remained open as they relied on their own generators for power. The feel of simplicity felt truly great. I also spent a month without a telephone and I had never realized that it could feel so relaxing to live under such simplicity. Great article!

Best regards,
Ivan J. Naranjo
ivan.naranjo@waldenu.edu