How the KISS Method Can Simplify Your Complex Creative Life
Our creative lives are complex and chaotic.
→ Many paths to choose from.
→ Many problems to juggle.
→ Many ideas to pursue.
→ Many unknowns.
It’s a chaotic blur.
If we’re not careful, that blur will stop us from enjoying what life has to offer.
To keep the blur at bay, we need to seek its opposite—Simplicity.
The best tool I’ve found to help us do this is called the KISS Method.
What is KISS?
K.I.S.S. is an acronym that stands for “Keep it simple stupid”
Variations Include:
• Keep it super simple
• Keep it simple, silly
• Keep it short and simple
• Keep it sweet and simple
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Often attributed to Lockheed Skunk Works engineer Kelly Johnson, KISS is the design principle to simplify a concept, problem, or system to its most basic form.
The simpler the design, the more likely it will be used and adopted by its users.
Systems work best when you remove the complexity. The same can be said for our lives.
KISS in Practice
For Kelly, KISS was a critical mindset for the construction of complex military aircraft such as jet fighters.
This is exemplified in the way Kelly managed his talented team of engineers.
It’s been said that Kelly gave his team a limited set of common tools to work with.
Why he did this though may surprise you.
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Jet fighters are inherently complex craft to design and fabricate. For Kelly, every component of the fighter plane’s build had to be crafted such that it could be repaired in the field with only basic tools and basic mechanical knowledge.
Kelly knew the planes needed to be simple enough to give the pilots and mechanics the best chance possible to stay in the fight or survive.
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“Keep it simple stupid”
“Stupid” wasn’t a slight against any specific person.
It was a way to remind the team not to overdesign.
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These planes would see war.
And simplicity meant the difference between life and death.
KISS in Your Creative Life
Your creative life may not have the same stakes as Kelly’s fighter jets.
But how complex of a life you lead is up to you.
Using KISS in your own life can reduce the blur and reveal the future you desire. Not the one given to you by default.
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For Creative Pros, KISS can mean:
• Drinking more water
• Enjoying the moment
• Avoiding anxiety triggers
• Sleeping for 8hrs a night
• Leaving work daily at ‘X’ time
• Taking situations at face value
• Not overthinking our problems
• Eating vegetables at each meal
• Communicating our ideas better
• Removing unnecessary meetings
• Solving one design issue at a time
Keep It Simple Stupid.
TL; DR
Simplicity leads to clarity
K.I.S.S. = “Keep it Simple Stupid”
Not everything has to be difficult
Our lives can become a complex blur
We need a mindset to adopt simplicity
KISS can be used in any area of creative life
Quote of the Week
Motivation for the days ahead of you.
“What if the biggest thing keeping us from doing what matters is the false assumption that it has to take tremendous effort? What if, instead, we considered the possibility that the reason something feels hard is that we haven’t yet found the easier way to do it?”
— Greg McKeown
That's all for now.
Stay creative, my friends—and have a great week!
