Confusion helps

I have been supporter of simplicity for long time, and I still believe achievement of simplicity is one of the biggest achievements any person can make in his life. I wrote a few days ago, Sorry, the path to simplicity is not simple. It takes mastery over complexity to achieve simplicity.

However, in some business functions, complexity helps. It works when you have to present some information and you do want it to be looked as basic. It creates totally different impression when the same information is presented with the help of flow charts, even if it is not needed. It creates impression if someone uses buzzwords, such as Brand Social Capital, even if they make sense or not. If you analyze deeply, sometimes the mission statement, vision, brand essence and brand promise overlap so much that it is hard to distinguish what is what. But, if the same consultant was to come up with one statement, whichever of these it may be, nobody will take him seriously.

One of my previous bosses gave an example in this context. He said that if you take your kid to a doctor and he prescribes Panadol, even if this is what the kid needs, you will think the doctor is a fool. But, if he writes some investigations and prescribes 2-3 medicines, you trust the doctor more.