“Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away”.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Today, I want to write about an idea which is a ‘figurative knife’ one can use to cut out clutters in one’s work and life so that one is able to focus on substance that really matters.
The strategy is widely credited to medieval philosopher, William Ockham who influenced many researchers to adopt the principle of simplicity in solving certain complicated problems.
In essence, Occam’s Razor principle can be adopted as a practical model that can be applied to any area of life.
Moreover, by giving preference to simplicity, we would not only achieve a desirable result faster, we would also save considerable time and energy in the process. With the application of this principle, we can actually do more with less.
In my view, this principle is one of the practical tools that enables extra-ordinary performance of Elon Musk, the Founder of SolarCity, SpaceX and Co-founder of Tesla Motors.
Though he is most widely known with the ‘First Principle’ in discovering ground-breaking solutions to real life problems, I believe the reason he could focus on the first principle with laser-like intensity is because he has the ‘razor’ at hand to cut away many seemingly good theories that could have diluted his limited attention.
So, whenever you’re confronted with a huge challenge, before diving in with stupendous energy, first think about ways you can reframe and simply the problem through the razor of Occam.
If you do, you may be awesomely surprised by the result.
