Value of Simplicity

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonard Da Vinci

Not long ago I was reading a book called The Well-Ordered Family. The book described an interesting exercise called the "Five WHYs". You ask the question why at least five times until you discover the answer to a problem. The example given was the problem of cleaning up bird poop from pigeons on the Jefferson Memorial. This created an expensive and annoying situation.

• The first question asked was: WHY are there bird droppings on the Memorial? ...Birds are roosting on the Memorial’s surface.
• The second question asked was: WHY are birds landing on the Jefferson Memorial? ...They eat the many spiders that like to live and nest there.
• This led to the third question: WHY is there an abundance of spiders? ...They eat the abundance of gnats that are attracted to the area.
• This led to the fourth question: WHY are the gnats attracted to the area? ...Because they were attracted to the lights left on at night.
• This led to the final question: WHY are the lights left on at night? ...Because no one thought to turn them off.

They turned off the lights and the problem went away.

What I love about that exercise is that it is so simple and that it leads to such a simple answer to what seems like a big, inscrutable problem. Most of the time you know you have the right answer when you come to a simple solution. And I would argue that if the answer seems too complex then you probably haven’t gotten to the right answer or right solution yet.

Let me clarify that simple doesn’t mean simplistic. You have to do some work and some digging to get there. As simple as an answer as turning off the lights is, I’m sure a great deal of thought and observation had to go into finding those answers. The solution did not come in a quick five-minute conversation. But after thinking through the process, the answer became obvious and simple. Also, simple is not always easy. Turning off the lights might have been easy, or someone might have had to work hard through bureaucratic red tape to make it happen.

As noted above, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Simplicity may be sophisticated, but life drifts in the direction of complexity. On top of that, our minds naturally look for big or complicated solutions to complex problems.

In their book, Switch: How to Change When Change Is Hard, Chip and Dan Heath equate “the rider to the mind.” They write this:

"There is a clear asymmetry between the scale of the problem and the scale of the solution. Big problem, small solution. This is a theme you will see again and again. Big problems are rarely solved with commensurately big solutions. Instead, they are most often solved by a sequence of small solutions, sometimes over weeks and sometimes over decades. And this asymmetry is why the Rider’s predilection for analysis can backfire so easily. When the Rider analyzes a problem, he seeks a solution that befits the scale of it."

When it comes to renewing the church, we tend to think it will come from some grand strategic plan. I’m not saying that work shouldn’t be done but I think at the end of the day the answers will be much simpler and able to be solved at the local parish level.

At Rebuilt we believe the answer is simple for parishes to thrive and grow:

• Create an excellent weekend experience
• Shape a clear discipleship path
• Grow wider by welcoming outsiders
• Build layers of leaders

We came to those answers over time. They took a lot of observation and conversation. And underneath those simple concepts, there is more information to dig into. But I would say the solution to parish renewal is not finding a bunch of solutions out there. It is doubling down on the efforts of things we already do but doing them better. It is letting go of things that are off mission.

We will renew and rebuild the Church by opening the doors, smiling at people, preparing and practicing homilies, playing music with skill, motivating and leading volunteers, and getting better at communicating to the next generation. The answers are all right in front of us.

Dan Sullivan, the creator of The Strategic Coach® Program, makes the point as follows: “No further progress and growth is possible for an organization until a new state of simplicity is created.”

Second Kings tells the story of Naaman. He goes to great effort to find healing for his leprosy. He travels with a whole team of people. He brings lots of money with him to pay whatever he needs to pay to be healed. But then when the prophet Elisha tells him to wash seven times in the Jordan he walks away angry. The answer seemed too simple. If not for a good and faithful servant stepping in, he would have walked away unhealed. Fortunately, Naaman listens to the wisdom of the servant, takes the simple step and finds healing.

Have the discipline and humility to look for and find the simple answers and like Naaman you will experience change and transformation.

Rooting for you,
Tom