ChangeThis for Simplicity

There are a lot of REALLY GOOD manifestos over at ChangeThis.com! Back in May 2006 I blogged about Simplicity in Design and included several links/resources on the subject. Turns out ChangeThis.com has a few good manifestos on the subject as well (and gets more every month). Here are the ones I liked most:

• Elegant Solutions: Breakthrough Thinking the Toyota Way, by Mathew May -- This is a distillation of Mathew May's book The Elegant Solution: Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation (also see the Elegant Solutions blog)


• The Simplicity Cycle, by Dan Ward -- "In the Simplicity Cycle, goodness is a general term that means slightly different things depending on a variety of contexts." In technology, goodness represents operational functionality or utility; for an academic discipline, it represents increased understanding; and for system design it reflects design maturity. If the context is art, maybe goodness means beauty" ... increased complexity does not inherently equal increased goodness, learn more by reading this manifesto.


• The Six Laws of the New Software, by Dror Eyal -- The Six Laws are: Single Idea, Collaborate, Disappear, Simplify, Release, Comply.


• Six Design Lessons from the Apple Store, by Jesse James Garret -- The Six Lessons are: Create an Experience, Not an Artifact; Honor Context; Prioritize your Messages; Institute Consistency; Design for Change; Don't Forget the Human Element!

Other manifestos not necessarily related to the above that I found interesting are:

• Software that Lasts 200 Years, by Daniel Bricklin
• Manifesto to Accelerate: 15 Truths, by Dan Coughlin [added April 5]
• The State of Competitive Advantage, by Mitchell Gooze
• A Manifesto for Mavericks: Why the Most Original Business Minds Win, by William Taylor and Polly LaBarre
• Going for the Go Point: The moment when a decision becomes action, by Michael Useem
• Thinking Through Problem Solving, by Valarie A. Washington
• The Bio-Teaming Manifesto: What teams can learn from Mother Nature
• How to Manage Smart People and Why Smart People Defend Bad Idea, both by Scott Berkun
• Managing with Aloha: Using Hawaiian values to change your business, and your relationships with employees and customers, by Rosa Say
• The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less, by Barry Schwartz
• LESS: What Customers Want, by Bruce Kasanoff
• The Answer is Biodiesel, by Michael Briggs (Trade-in your Prius and buy a VW! What's better than hybrids and fuel-cells? The answer is biodiesel)
• Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness, by The President's Council on Bioethics
• A Physics of Ideas, by Nova Spivack
• Slacker @ Work, by Brendan Connelly
• Make Art, Not War, by Mary Anne Davis
• The CEO of the 21st Century, by Mark Goulston
• How to be Creative, by Hugh Macleod
• George Lakoff Manifesto, by George Lakoff
• How To Get Better Teachers -- and Treat Them Right!, by Chester E. Finn, Jr.