# Simple Systems

By [The Slow Hunch by Nick Grossman](https://paragraph.com/@nickgrossman) · 2020-03-09

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I think a lot about systems -- for personal organization, for business automation, for urban information, for financial infrastructure, for the internet, etc. On a big macro level, I have always been fascinated by the way that many forces, people and ideas come together to make things. And on a micro level, what it takes to say, keep your finances in order, or keep your to-dos rational, etc.

One thing I have found to be true is that simple systems tend to work better. They are easier to understand, easier to maintain, and easier to work with. TCP/IP, Bitcoin, putting to-dos directly into your calendar. Less is more.

At the same time, complex systems are appealing -- sexy, sophisticated, alluring. But can be hard to use and costly to maintain.

I find that it's a constant struggle to remind oneself that simpler is usually better. A system is only as good as its implementation and execution. And the best systems can be used broadly over a long period of time.

I was reminded of this recently when reading [Greg Kogan](https://twitter.com/grigoriy_kogan)'s post on how [Simple Systems have Less Downtime](https://www.gkogan.co/blog/simple-systems/). He goes into some detail on this subject, looking at examples as far apart from one another as a container ship that can be manned & maintainer by a tiny crew, and marketing automation scripts that can be maintained by a team over time. It's great reminder.

This is a variant on the old mantra from [Derek Sivers](https://twitter.com/sivers) that [ideas are a multiplier of execution](https://sivers.org/multiply). In other words, it's execution that matters, and the quality of the idea can multiply the outcome, but without execution it's just talk.

This month, my simple system is: travel less and wash hands more. Hopefully that will help.

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*Originally published on [The Slow Hunch by Nick Grossman](https://paragraph.com/@nickgrossman/simple-systems)*