Conquering Complexity, and How the Food Giants Hooked Us

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/jcaf.21910
• Date: 01 November 2013
• Published date: 01 November 2013

69

© 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).

DOI 10.1002/jcaf.21910

Conquering Complexity, and How the Food

Giants Hooked Us

David M. Cannon, Joseph H. Godwin, and Stephen R. Goldberg

BOOKS REVIEWED

Siegel, Alan, and Etzkorn,

Irene, 2013, Simple: Conquering

the Crisis of Complexity (New

York, NY: Twelve)

Moss, Michael, 2013, Salt

Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants

Hooked Us (New York, NY:

Random House)

In the first book selected

for review, Siegel and Etzkorn

address simplicity as a busi-

ness strategy for success. In the

second book, Moss describes

how the processed food industry

manipulates the sugar, salt, and

fat content of foods to excite our

taste buds and achieve profit-

ability goals as the population

gets increasingly obese and

unhealthy.

SIMPLE: CONQUERING THE

CRISIS OF COMPLEXITY

While most readers are

familiar with the KISS (Keep it

Simple, Stupid) principle, few

would treat simplicity as a core

business strategy. Authors Alan

Siegel and Irene Etzkorn apply

the KISS principle to running a

business in Simple. They articu-

late how complexity saps orga-

nizations of profit and annoys,

frustrates, and angers custom-

ers, suppliers, and employees.

Their book illustrates how a

focus on simplicity can result

in efficiency and profit while

increasing the satisfaction and

loyalty of customers, employers,

and other stakeholders. Well-

respected organizations such as

Google, Apple, Southwest Air-

lines, Cleveland Clinic, Trader

Joe’s, and Phillips are identified

as having simplicity as a major

component of their business

models. The authors’ view is that

“simplicity is a bottom line issue

for business.”

Siegel and Etzhorn view

complexity not as a “necessary

evil” but as “a thief that must

be apprehended.” The authors

cite a study of the “two hundred

largest companies in the world

[that] found they were wast-

ing an average of 10 percent

of annual profit . . . as a result

of overly complex processes,

bloated product portfolios, and

increasing management layers.”

Almost all readers of this jour-

nal can relate situations in this

book to their organizations.

Numerous examples of

excessive complexity are cited in

the book. Consumer contracts,

such as bank deposit and loan

agreements, are more often than

not written in legalese that is

impenetrable to the typical con-

sumer. The City of New York is

cited as having separate depart-

ments trim trees that block traf-

fic signs, depending on whether

the trunk or branches of the tree

are obscuring the sign. City resi-

dents were apparently expected

to know this and call the right

department to report a problem.

The authors also cite the pro-

liferation of “features” in con-

sumer electronics to the point

that consumers often returned

newly purchased items because

they couldn’t figure out how to

operate them.

Lawyers are a favorite

target in the book, with their

tendency to play it safe with

“mind-numbing disclaimers,

disclosures, terms, instructions,

amendments, and amendments

to amendments.” The authors

note that the typical credit card

contract went from one-and-

a-half pages in 1980 to over 30

pages today. Few consumers

fully understand their insur-

ance policies or service agree-

ments with utility companies.

Such indecipherable legalese