Do We Make Things Too Complicated? Part 1

It seems that life is more complicated than it needs to be, and it remains complicated to validate many of our livelihoods. 

The following statements are not an indictment of specific jobs, but a thirty thousand-foot view of the problem in need of a solution. 

I remember helping a friend (or him helping me) by working for his moving company in downtown Chicago. Many times, we were stalled in our efforts because there was a union rule that demanded we use an elevator with an elevator operator. The elevator was normal, had numbered buttons on the inside, and the operator was not necessary. Many times, many people waited for this operator to show up, or for him to take a break, and it slowed everything down and escalated the movers' costs.

When I inquired as to why we could not push the buttons, I was told I was uncaring because the question itself showed I had no concern for this man’s livelihood. 

I began wondering that if you had a job that was not necessary, if there was any fulfillment in the job anyways.  The rules that the city had set forth made things more complicated, costly, and frankly, were absurd. 

As I thought more about this (and I had time to think as there were many delays in button- pushing), I felt bad for the company that hired me, for they were wasting their money. I felt sorry for the elevator operator in that he had to keep justifying a job that needed not exist, and I thought of all those who had jobs defending the idea that unnecessary positions were necessary. 

I often think the same thoughts about those who make a living in the “tax” world, or the accounting world. I understand that I don’t understand, and that I depend upon others to make sure I am doing it correctly, yet I cannot help but think that if we simplified things a bit, we could save a lot of resources, and these people could get jobs that did more than making the finances say whatever they want them to say. 

The government often makes things harder than it needs to be, and it seems to want us all to stay in the category of ignorant, and then coin the phrase that ignorance of the law is no excuse. 

Personally, I can simplify a lot of these things. I know how to push buttons in elevators. I would love to have some sort of percentage tax, drop all the loopholes, and minimize government involvement in our everyday lives.  If we did these little things, we would have many more productive hours in areas of creativity and growth. 

Keeping things complicated protects unnecessary jobs, while simplifying things unleashes creativity and productivity. 

Years ago, we began a non-profit educational institution. I was warned to keep it simple and I was also told, that in the long run, it would be impossible. As we grew, we needed to clarify the rules of operation, and created a policy manual. We started with some simple, common sense policies that through time needed clarification, and then more clarification. Now we have many policies in this manual, and with policies come loopholes that need to be continually addressed with more policy. Arrrgggggg!

We live in an age of communication, and sometimes I think that we are communicating too much in that most policy manuals collect more dust than eyes. 

I think that the new challenge for business and government would be how to simplify rather than complicate life, and in doing so, this would unleash a workforce that would be excited to go to work again.