The basics don’t just work well because they’re closely tied to the fundamentals. They work because going back to basics means, by extension, an absence of the complex.
Complexity can be a place to learn, but it can also be a place of endlessly spawning, subtle temptations. It’s treacherous, because indulging complexity feels like hard work, giving off the illusion that we’re doing something important. Sometimes it is, but a lot of the time it’s a convenient place to get lost, distracted, and delay making the big moves.
Of course, the better you become in a certain area, the more you may have to explore certain complexities to eke out additional gains. The problem is, it’s tempting to go straight to this extreme, get lost in the weeds, and end up discouraged.
A valuable question worth asking is: how much could have been achieved if you’d just got on with the basics and stuck with them for a decent amount of time?
Complexity can save us from getting bored, but the basics can save us from getting nowhere.
The Thoughts of Others
- “When you’re forced to be simple, you’re forced to face the real problem. When you can’t deliver ornament, you have to deliver substance.” – Paul Graham
