Simple Rules: How to Thrive in a Complex World

I design (and follow!) rules for a living, so I’m rather interested in rules. My attitude is I try to craft the most complete set of rules that I know for sure I can follow. Now, in the narrow setting within which I operate, the rules are executed by a computer, so there’s no risk they will be forgotten. The way I see it, the constraint is that they should be simple enough that I can trust they will never contradict each other or cancel each other out or land me in a place where I have no rule to follow.

In other words, you could say that my motto is to use “as complicated rules as I can handle”

It’s no exaggeration, then, to say that the authors and I start from pretty much the opposite side of the spectrum, and it is therefore with great interest that I picked up this book. Also, I went to the same school as the main author and he seems to have been teaching at the business school I attended (and at the time when I attended, funnily enough, though I don’t seem to remember him) and that gave me the comfort to buy the book and learn something.

The book has three parts.

The first part of the book is an apology for and a wordy taxonomy of “simple rules,” supported by examples. Rules for making decisions come under three categories: “boundary rules” (yay or nay), “prioritizing rules” (a > b > c) and “stopping rules” (e.g. when to acknowledge that you’re going to have to propose to your girlfriend). Rules for doing things better also come under three categories: “how to” rules distil an art into a small set of principles; “coordination rules” are used by units of a large ensemble to lend it its macro properties; “timing rules” and “time pacing” rules guide when to take action. I could not tell apart “stopping rules” from “timing rules” but maybe that’s just me.

Next comes a chapter on how to craft rules. Natural selection does plenty of crafting (I can see how most of nature’s “coordination rules” are generated along those lines), but we are encouraged to “codify personal experience,” “draw on the experience of others,” “distil scientific evidence,” and “negotiate an agreement” on what rules to follow.

Finally comes the third and longest part of the book, which is a laundry list of cases where “simple rules” were applied. I found it very tedious and evenly split between companies I never heard of that followed closely the advice of the author and famous/successful companies and individuals who did not really follow simple rules at all. In particular, four pieces of advice are given:
1. find what will move the needles;
2. choose a bottleneck;
3. craft the rules;
4. change the rules when the facts on the ground change.
The successful examples I’d heard of before only really seemed to be following the fourth piece of advice, which to me makes total sense.

I could have done without the last 110 pages of this book basically.

I can totally see how a single athlete or gambler or performer or criminal acting without ready access to a cheatsheet or a computer would do well to stick to a couple basic rules. But in a world where Formula 1 pitstop strategies are decided by teams of scientists using stochastic programming I think the whole concept is a bit of a gimmick, and sadly that’s also how I ended up feeling about the book.

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APPENDIX OF SIMPLE RULES (SPOILER ALERT WRIT LARGE!!)

Michael Pollan rule:
"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Surgeon General WWII triage rules:
1. Sort into following categories
---> Stable vital signs: Green
---> Unlikely to survive even with heroic medical intervention: Black
---> Badly injured (a shot at survival, but only if they receive immediate attention: Red
---> Others: Yellow
2. Give those with black tag palliative care
3. Treat the rest in the order Red, Yellow, Green

HF rules for investing in Yeltsin Russia:
1. Have revenues of $100 million to $500 million
2. Compete in an industry in which we have previously invested
3. Offer products the typical Russina family might purchase if they had an extra $100 to spend per month
4. Work only with executives who know criminals but are not criminals themselves

Zipcar Rules:
1. report damage
2. keep it clean
3. no smoking
4. fill'er up
5. return on time
6. pets in carriers

Chefs' Rules:
1. Do not copy recipes by other chefs
2. Do not pass proprietary information from a chef on to others without permission
3. Always acknowledge the author of the recipe

Rules judges actually follow (but shouldn't) when deciding on bail:
1. Did the prosecution either request conditional bail or oppose bail altogether?
2. Were conditions imposed on the bail by a judge earlier in the process?
3. Did a previous court insist on keeping the defendant in custody?

Burglars' rule for breaking in:
Avoid houses with a vehicle parked outside

DARPA rules:
1. The project must further the quest for fundamental scientific understanding
2. The project just have a practical use

Obama's rules for sending in the drones:
1. Does the target pose a continuing and imminent threat to the American people?
2. Are there on other governments capable of effectively addressing the threat?
3. Is there near certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured?

Cash-strapped private Brazilian railway CEO's (Alex Behring's) rules during financial crisis:
1. Projects that remove bottlenecks to growing revenues
2. Projects that provide benefits immediately
3. Projects with minimal up-front expenditures
4. Projects that re-use existing resources

Old Mesopotamian rule for investment:
A man should place his money one third in land, a third into merchandise, and keep a third in hand

Male crickets:"Choose a mate who meets your quality threshold"

Loeb's stopping rule:
If an investment loses 10 percent of its initial value, sell it

Rules to stop eating:
Parisian: Stop eating when I start feeling full
Chicago: Stop eating when I run out of a beverage
Chicago (bis): Stop eating when the TV show I'm watching is over

Scott Fischer's Everest climbing rule:
If you aren't at the top by two o'clock, it's time to turn around

Donald Sull's bouncer rules:
1. Don't let trouble in the door
2. Stay sober until the last patron leaves
3. Double up for heavy metal, ska and punk bands
4. Keep the bikers on your side

Lobby's sports commentary how-to rules
1. set the scene;
2. describe the action;
3. give the score or results, regularly and succinctly;
4. explain, without interrupting, the stadium's reaction to the game's event;
5. share "homework," such as historical facts and figures or personal information;
6. assess the significance of the occasion and key moments

US Forest Service how-to rules
1. start an escape fire in the path of the advancing fire if possible;
2. go to where the fuel is thinner;
3. turn toward the fire and try to work through it;
4. don't let the fire choose the spot where it hits you

White Stripes how to rules:
1. no blues;
2. no guitar solos;
3. no slide guitar;
4. no covers (hugely broken later, btw);
5. no bass

Elmore Leonard how to rules:
1. avoid prologues;
2. never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue;
3. try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip

Google hiring rules:
1. look for eccentricity;
2. look for strong referrals from other Google employees;
3. avoid anyone with even the smallest inaccuracy on their resume

Locust coordination rules:
1. flee from locusts chasing you from behind
2. try to eat the locust in front of you if it gets too close

The Second City coordination rules:
1. build on whatever is said or done just beforehand by saying "Yes, and..."
2. don't tell jokes (because they stifle an emerging storyline by imposing an artificial punchline into an organic situation@
3. make others look good

Naploeon's "coordination" rule:
"march toward the sound of gunfire"

Insomniacs' timing rules:
1. get up at the same time every morning;
2. avoid going to bed until you feel sleepy;
3. do not stay in bed if you are not sleeping;
4. reduce the time spent in bed

Migrating dragonflies' time-pacing rules:
0. avoid headwinds and instead surf the prevailing breezes (not a time-pacing rule)
1. fly only when the nighttime temperature falls for two consecutive nights
2. stay put on windy days

Hilltopping rules for butterflies (from natural selection):
1. fly uphill most of the time
2. fly toward the highest slope in sight
3. pause to check out local peaks, even if they are not the highest, but leave if you do not get lucky right away"

Standup comedians' rule (from natural selection)
"don't steal jokes" (probably inversely related to success, but hey)

Tina Fey's rules (from codifying personal experience)
4. when hiring, mix Harvard nerds with Chicago improvisers and stir;
9. never tell a crazy person he's crazy

Slime propagating algorithm (from which the Tokyo tube drew "experience")
1. begin by searching randomly in many directions for food;
2. when you find food, thicken the tube;
3. when you don't find food, shrink the tube

Roomba vacuum cleaner (presumed) rules:
1. turn when you hit an object;
2. spiral when caught in a corner;
3. return to the docking station when power is about to run out

NOAA negotiated rule:
"all boats must stay two hundred yards away from the whales and four hundred yards away from their path"

Shannon's three rules for eating:
1. eat breakfast;
2. stay hydrated;
3. eat as much as you want of anything that can be picked, plucked or killed

Want to know the 'simple rules' which explain the break-out success of HOUSE OF CARDS? Ever wonder how a coach using some 'simple rules' could take Stanford U football from a 1-11 losing year in 2007 to, in three years, an unlikely streak of top ten rankings and Pac-12 championships? Want to know some simple investment rules which have proven to outperform more complex rules? (Hint: one rule is Loeb's rule - if an investment loses 10% of its initial value, sell it.)

This is one of the best business books on strategy I have read. The authors define strategy: "Strategy, in our view, lives in the simple rules that guide an organization's most important activities." This book on simple rules has profound implications for success in achieving business and personal goals. Here are some simple features to appreciate about this book:

* simple thesis that is profound: simple rules are rules which are fundamental to successful outcomes. They vary according to domain but have some features in common including: there's only a handful of them for each activity, they confer flexibility while maintaining some consistency, they enable individuals to make quick decisions with limited information, they synchronize activities in a community, and they apply best to well-defined activity or decision.

* types of 'simple rules' are simply organized for your consideration into six broad categories

* discussion of 'how-to' on crafting simple rules for your life and business - a simple 3-step process described (p.123)

* effective exercise for readers - authors coach you how to devise some simple rules for a challenge you're currently preoccupied with - you will come away with insights if you do it

* 3 field-tested questions all individuals should ask to create economic value in their company or start-up

* see simple rules road-tested - authors detail how entrepreneurs devise and tweak rules for their businesses through Young Presidents' Organization, a global network of 20,000 executives who have founded or run a sizable organization before the age of 45. Author's MBA & PhD students have worked with YPO companies to develop rules, document implementation and measure impact.

* understand all strategy in the form of simple rules - which handful of simple rules will create success in your endeavors?

* entertaining & engaging in-depth application of simple rules in three diverse, practical case studies such as online dating, minimizing depression, and increasing charisma and people skills

* simply readable - not academic or scholarly writing, but fairly conversational with colorful stories

* original and intriguing examples of simple rules evidenced in Zipcar, Michelin Chefs, Jesuits, bees, Airbnb, and Tina Fey & improv comedy - reading how Japanese engineers viewed foraging rules of slime mold to guide them in creating railways from Tokyo is worth reading the book for alone (p.108)

* simple takeaways - inspires readers to consider the 'simple rules' which would maximize success in areas of life you want to improve such as health, losing weight, saving for kids' college or retirement, or having a more fun and enriching life.

If you have ever suspected that a few simple rules underlie most successful outcomes in life, you should love this book. It will help to train you to consider and identify the simple rules for successful outcomes in the various disciplines of life which you care about. I found the book simply smashing. I will continue to use the ideas in it in future endeavors. One of the best books on business I have read because of its implications. And it's a good read.

(As an aside, while reading this book, I realized I had crafted some 'simple rules' for writing Amazon reviews such as: employ empathy and integrity, write what you want to read, don't give negative votes to put yours or others' reviews on top, it's good to spend more time on reviews for books you love, likewise not all reviews have to be masterpieces, it's okay to write a few reviews to amuse yourself, be creative and take some risks if you feel like it, when it's no longer fun change it up a little, and keep learning about writing and writing reviews.)

I was intrigued by the subtitle of this book: How To Thrive In A Complex World. I was hoping for a guideline on creating my own simple rules for various personal and business situations. Instead, this is more of a technical study of "simple rules" that reads like a thesis. The authors truly know their topic but I would like to see much less of this book's content dedicated to the proof that simple rules exist and the dissecting of them and more content dedicated to practical information on creation and implementation of simple rules into our daily lives. Much time is spent on proving their existence - including explanations of how birds can fly in tight formations or how butterflies climb in mass toward a group destination. Somewhat interesting (though for me in way too much detail).

Why not offer more practical examples that would directly resound with the reader? As an example: without knowing the history or technical nature of simple rules, I have a CPA friend who for years has implemented the following rules relating to taking on a new client: 1) only personal clients (no business clients at all); 2) no new clients after April 1; and 3) only new clients who have been referred by existing clients. Three easy rules to decide whether to take someone on or not. Another example: As kids we could have ice cream at night if 1) we had already finished our dinner; 2) our homework was done; and 3) our chores were done. Simple rules that we all understood without knowing the concept of "simple rules".

I'd love to see a book that offers self-evaluating questions for personal and business situations that would help one create the rules for those specific situations. Though this book clearly confirmed the importance of simple rules in managing all aspects of our daily lives, a book on the implementation vs. one that is mostly scientific in nature would be much more useful.

As a society, we have complicated our lives to the point of going postal.

I've built a number of online communities, initially the rules were simple. As moderators joined the team, the rules grew. More rules, we needed more moderators. More moderators, the rules grew until they were impossible. As moderators left, I didn't replace them. Instead I cut back the rules. My newest communities have the simplest rules of all - Respect one another. There is NEVER an issue. Ever. In years. Seriously. Simple Rules.

In Simple Rules the author shows us examples where the simplest rules dominate decision-making, from Wall Street to the street crime. Did you know leaving a vehicle in the driveway could be the best deterrent indicating someone may be home? Interesting. 24x7 I usually have a vehicle in the driveway. My neighbors who rarely do? Yep, they've been burglarized before. Btw, they're home more than we are...

If your life has gotten crazy, Simple Rules may help you realize the methods to looking around your situation at home and at work. Simplify. Less really is more.

My Simple Rules include -
* standard power cords for electronics - tablet, kindle, phone, GPS, etc.
* I stopped buying special cleaners, pesticides AND herbicides. Now it's baking soda, vodka, white vinegar, salt, essential oils, Dawn. Between these I can make window cleaner to herbicides, plant and dog pest repellents too. When we're out, I make another batch in minutes. It's easier to keep a few staples in our pantry than all the chemicals. Safer too!
* no variety of credit cards to this n that store or cause. Credit cards ONLY from the place I bank. Online bill pay, too. Now paying bills takes literally 5 minutes twice monthly. How easy :-)
* oh yeah, our Depression Era fathers had the same rule - never buy anything on credit if you can't pay for it outright (except maybe a house). This rule saved us from certain financial ruin when the economy tanked a few years ago. We found we were both without a paycheck simultaneously. Scary. We got through it, likely due to our Simple Rule.

First, I want to share two of my favorite quotations on the subject of simplicity. First, from Oliver Wendell Holmes: "I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity." And from Albert Einstein: "Make everything as simple as possible but no simpler."

Donald Sull and Kathleen Eisenhardt explain the power of simple rules in terms of several substantial benefits. Here are five.

1. They save resources, especially time and energy.
2. They can be adjusted the given circumstances.
3. They help to eliminate confusion and consequent hesitation.
4. They provide a framework within which to improvise.
5. They allow flexible collaboration, especially under duress.

I cannot recall a prior time that was more complicated and more stressful than it is today for people to meet all manner of obligations in all areas of their lives. Moreover, on average, each of us receives about 8,500 "messages" a day that compete for our attention. Sull and Eisenhardt cite Warren Weaver whose pioneer research in the field of complexity (much of it conducted at the Rockefeller Foundation) reveals several valuable insights. Sixty years ago, "Weaver argued that simple and uncertain problems have largely been solved, and that the greatest challenges of the future would be problems of complexity. He was right." I presume to add, in this context, that one of the greatest challenges now is to simplify the process by which to solve complex problems. This is what Jon Katzenbach has in mind when suggesting the most difficult challenges for change agents is to change how they think about change.

These are among the dozens of passages of greatest interest and value to me, also listed to suggest the scope of Sull and Eisenhardt's coverage:

o The Discovery of Complexity (Pages 7-12)
o Simple Rules for a Complex World (12-17)
o Simple Rules Produce Better Decisions (32-38)
o Boundary Rules (50-57)
o Stopping Rules (62-70)
o How-To Rules (74-82)
Example How to Thrive in a Complex World
o Natural Selection (99-102)
o Distilling Scientific Knowledge (110-113)
o Studying Simple Rules in Action (121-124)
o Identify a Bottleneck (130-137)
o Craft the Simple Rules (137-144)
o Crafting Simple Rules That Work for You (151-155)
o Rules to Win Friends and Influence People (166-169)
Comment: If you are inauthentic, forget it. Phonies have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.
o Crafting Better Simple Rules (173-180)
o How Simple Rules Improve (180-186)
o Changing the Vision, Changing the Rules (205-209)
o Changing the Bottlenecks, Rewriting the Rules (213-221)
o Overcoming the Barriers to Simplicity (224-227)

Those who read this book with appropriate care will soon realize that Sull and Eisenhardt are offering simple rules on how to formulate and then apply the simple rules needed to thrive in a complex world. I agree with them: "Fighting complexity is an ongoing battle that can wear us down. Disheartened, people tolerate complicated solutions that don't work, or cling to overly simplistic narratives ('Climate change is a myth,' for example, or "
'Globalization is bad') that deny the interdependencies characterizing modern life. Simple rules can be a powerful weapon in this fight."

Whatever their size and nature may be, all organizations need to follow Einstein's advice and make everything as simple as possible but no simpler. To achieve that worthy objective, organizations will need effective leadership at all levels and in all areas of the given enterprise. Donald Sull and Kathleen Eisenhardt wrote this book to open their eyes "to the myriad opportunities they have to tackle complexity with simplicity, and to provide concrete guidance on how to seize these opportunities." Almost all of the information, insights, and counsel they need are provided in this volume. Bravo!

There are two dimensions of this book that make it an interesting read. Most superficially, it's a fun collection of tidbits about the simple operating principles used by people and organizations in literally every walk of life -- from bouncing at a biker bar to banking in the Balkans. Beyond that, it offers a systematic framework for viewing simple rules and understanding how and why they're helpful. In that sense, it's a model for how you might design simple rule sets of your own. It was both fun and helpful without being either frivolous or reading like a self-help book. Plenty of thought nuggets for your mind grapes.

I've always thought that the most difficult thing in business is keeping things simple. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a manager, a VP, or even just an entry-level engineer, the business environment hits you with a complex array of information. On top of that, modern businesses often need to move and pivot constantly in order to stay ahead of market trends. All of this means that businesses have make sense of complexity fast and keep doing this sense-making over and over again, and that's where simple rules come in.

In my understanding, simple rules isn't a one-size-fits-all solution, but a particular way of thinking that enables businesses to come up with simple, executable solutions on the fly. Like many other readers that reviewed the book, I initially wanted more practical examples of how simple rules solve problems in sales, marketing, branding, HR, etc. But I think that's not really the point here. To be sure, some particular simple rules may have widespread applicability in a variety of business situations, such that entrepreneurs and managers can just plug these rules into their existing way of running businesses. But I think the broader implication is that entrepreneurs and managers should look at complex, fast-changing situations with a simple rules mindset, so that rather than searching for plug-and-play solution we craft simple rules that offer the necessary guidance for our particular business. In other words, the book may present some existing "rules" that businesses can use, but I think it's higher purpose is to show examples of how businesses crafted simple rules so that we can do the same. And that, I think, is where the power of this book really lies.

How often will you get the chance to learn how to make better decisions from top business scholars at Stanford and MIT, sharing what they know in everyday language and examples? The authors present a super useful and, yes, simple, way to develop your own simple rules and apply them to the aspects of your life that need them most: Visualize a dashboard for your life with needles indicating how joyous or dismal you feel. Find out what moves those needles in the right direction, and there's where simple rules can help.

But before applying them, you also need to target the "bottlenecks" that hold back your best efforts. Get the book to find out exactly how. It's very easy to read and act on their advice.

This book is not only entertaining (I love the chapter about crickets' mating decision rules!) and informative, it really helped me think about how complicated I tend to make my personal decisions. In recently undergoing a career change, I found Simple Rules really helpful in encouraging simplicity in my decision making.

Before reading this book the only simple rule I thought about was using triage to decide which of the wounded should be treated and when. Turns out this is only the tip of the iceberg. The authors show how many companies, football teams, other organizations, and individuals use their own set of simple rules to make strategic decisions that have brought them success. I know this approach works because, although I haven’t always specifically stated the simple rules, I have used them in business (pursue clients that have money and have a need that you can fulfill with current capabilities), golf (only hit shots that have an 80% chance of success) and photography (abandon photos that require more than five minutes of post processing).

The book identifies several types of simple rules to make it easier to see how practical this approach can be. In addition to numerous examples, the authors show how many of the simple rules were developed and give guidance on how one could develop simple rules for one’s own complex situations.

The authors give a practical approach to manage complex activities. I highly recommend the book.