Archive for the ‘complexity’ Category

In 1980, the typical credit card contract was about a page and a half long. Today it is thirty-one pages. The consequence is that people no longer read these agreements, then find their accounts canceled or subject to high interest rates.

As the Games of the XXX Olympiad take central stage and turn the global spotlight on London for the next 17 days, I wonder which compelling images and stories we’ll be left with as the Olympic torch is extinguished. What will we remember about the 10…

“Why is this so complicated?” I hate boarding a plane. The experience is irritating—it takes too long, I’m often surrounded by hordes of confused people and information isn’t communicated clearly.
 

Eight years ago, I could have used that halfway house. As an English major fresh from the cornfields of Grinnell, Iowa, I wondered what to do with a degree bestowed by the department of Humanities. (Oh, the humanity indeed). Although I could analyze Pa…

Simplicity is the essence of the golden rule. It’s an indication of consideration: I’ve taken the time to move the complexity of something out of the way so that the recipient of a conversation, a deed, a gesture, a letter, understands what I mean.

When you’re bad at your job, you get fired. And that’s exactly what voters should do to Congress this fall. Forget about wars, unemployment, recession and healthcare reform. Congress should be fired for failing at the most essential part of their j…

Simplicity in the healthcare industry is on life support. This is one of the findings from Siegel+Gale’s recently released 2011 Global Brand Simplicity Index, which articulates the across-the-board demand for simplicity in various industries. Accordi…

Financial disclosures have been a big concern since the mortgage and credit crisis began. Many claimed that lenders had taken advantage of consumers’ confusion about the loans or credit cards they were signing up for. So to protect consumers, Congres…

During election years, really big ideas emerge on taxation, regulation, education and the like. In the spirit that intriguing ideas are often the most provocative (they couldn’t really do that, could they?), I am humbly offering my really big idea. O…

As someone who strives for simplicity during my action-packed day—as a wife, mother of two young girls and a Strategy Director at Siegel+Gale—I spend the majority of my time noticing complexity. Where does it trip things up, how can you fix it and …