Most Problems Are Simple

There is no problem so complicated that you can’t find a very simple answer to it if you look at it right. — Douglas Adams

I want to tell you a short story.

It begins, like many workplace tales, with a computer that wouldn’t turn on.

From the manager’s point of view, it was something out of an IT fantasy.

“The computer wouldn’t start. So, I called the sysadmin. He came in, raised his hands to the heavens, mumbled some sort of incantation, spun my chair around ten times, kicked the computer… and it just came back to life. Then he whispered something again, nodded like a wizard, and walked away.”

Magical, isn’t it?

But let’s pause for a second.

Because here’s the exact same story, told by the sysadmin:

“I walk in and see the user. The guy had been spinning in his chair so much that the power cable got wrapped around the leg and yanked itself out of the socket. I curse quietly, untangle the mess, push the PC back under the desk with my foot, plug it in, press the power button, and leave.”

No wizardry. No black magic. Just a loose cable and a bit of common sense.

Now, what’s the real story here?

It’s not about IT. It’s about how we see problems, and how quickly we’re willing to escalate, dramatize, and mystify them. To the manager, it was a system failure. To the sysadmin, it was gravity and a spinning chair.

We laugh, but this is happening in organizations every day. A small hiccup is interpreted as a catastrophe. A misunderstanding becomes a full-blown crisis. And somewhere along the way, we forget to check whether the thing is simply… plugged in.

True story: I once solved a company-wide reporting issue by restarting the Wi-Fi.

Big Problems, Simple Roots

One of the most elegant tools ever used in business was developed by Toyota. It’s called the Five Whys.

When something goes wrong, you don’t fix the surface—you ask “Why?” until you get to the root cause. Five times is usually enough.

A machine breaks down.

• Why? It was overheated.

• Why? The cooling system failed.

• Why? The pump stopped working.

• Why? It wasn’t maintained.

• Why? Because no one scheduled the maintenance.

  
  

The solution? Add a reminder. Not hire a consultant. Not re-engineer the system. Just a calendar entry.

We Overcomplicate Because of Ego

Let’s be honest, sometimes we want our problems to be big. Because a big problem makes us look important.

A big problem justifies a meeting.

A task force. A PowerPoint deck.

But the truth is that many of the problems we face, whether in IT, HR, innovation, or leadership, are embarrassingly solvable. We just don’t want to look under the desk.

How Many Things in Your Organization Are Just “Unplugged”?

Think about that for a moment.

How many emails are going unanswered not because someone is rude, but because they’re overwhelmed?

How many strategies are stuck because no one asked the person actually doing the work?

How many digital transformation projects are delayed because someone forgot to align the team?

These aren’t structural failures. They’re just human ones.

Fixable. Simple. But hidden under layers of overthinking.

Here’s a Better Way to Lead

1. Start small. Ask stupid questions. Check the basics.

2. Listen before you escalate. Someone may already know the fix.

3. Reward clarity, not complexity. Don’t romanticize the crisis.

4. Trust your front-line people. They often know exactly what’s wrong.

5. And every now and then: look under the table. Literally and metaphorically.

To Sum Up…

Simplicity is underrated.

Toyota built an empire asking “Why?” five times.

Pilots use checklists.

And then there’s the story (possibly a myth, but a good one nonetheless) about the Americans and the Russians during the space race.

When NASA began sending astronauts into space, they realized pens didn’t work in zero gravity. Ink needs gravity to flow and in orbit… there is none. So, as the story goes, they spent years and millions of dollars developing a special “space pen”: pressurized ink cartridges, complex design, reliable even upside down.

The Russians?

They used a pencil.

The point isn’t who’s smarter. (And yes, I know pencils have their own issues in space: floating graphite, flammability, etc.)

But the legend sticks because it reminds us of something deep and human:

Our tendency to overthink, over-engineer, and overlook the simplest answer.

So, next time something breaks and before you call in the cavalry or prepare a grand speech, ask yourself: Could this just be... unplugged?

And if it is, remember: Real magic isn’t in fixing the problem.

It’s in not making it complicated in the first place.