Comments on: America’s Crisis of Complexity: Alan Siegel’s Speech from TED 2010

By: Forme of Cury

Forme of Cury — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:23:06 +0000

I have worked as a freelance writer for two decades. And I spent a goodly amount of that time struggling with corporate clients for simplicity.

Say what you need to say as quickly, cleanly, and simply as possible. Then stop talking.

Applause.

By: Neil Margolis

Neil Margolis — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 13:13:12 +0000

Great talk with brilliant examples that stick with the viewer. I’ve suggested adding clarity to my company’s corporate values for awhile and love the idea of making it part of our national priorities. As a manager I evaluate much of the work I see based on clarity- one bite at a time, I guess.

By: Bob Calder

Bob Calder — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:33:14 +0000

Back in the 1960s Prudential Insurance Co. hired Al Schaffer from Short Hills to redesign all their paperwork so it made sense. That one man made a huge difference in what was at the time the world’s largest insurance company.

By: Muthamma

Muthamma — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:34:32 +0000

Great talk on the power of simple expression.
To me, it seems a clearly obvious thing to do; to approach from empathy and clarity and simplify a form.
But, why is such an obvious concept so hard to find and experience in the world?

By: Cari Guittard

Cari Guittard — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:49:49 +0000

As always Siegel has a way of brilliantly cutting through all the clutter and chaos, providing a clear directive for our policy makers and political leadership. The key question though is one of execution and accountability of course. After having served in the federal government at the State Department where there was no shortage of bright, heavily credentialled foreign policy experts, finding anyone who would be willing to in a simple, clear way explain the what, why and how they engage in diplomatic efforts was next to impossible. There is also a dominant culture in Washington where layering complexity to any issue is a way of diffusing and diverting attention and accountability at the heart of any issue. Siegel’s call for clarity and simlicity is one that I hope finally Washington will take note of. It is also a time for Washington to avail itself of experts like Siegel so we can finally move beyond the paralysis that afflicts nearly every national issue and engage the American public in a real and constructive dialogue. Simple is smart.