This is a quote from Constantin Brancusi, a Romanian sculptor, painter, and photographer who made his career in France. He lived from 1876 to 1957 and is considered a very influential figure in modern sculpture. And while I’m not keen on his sculpture, I do love the quote, “Simplicity is complexity resolved.”
I had never heard this quote before I read an article about Flavio Manzoni, the VP of Design at Ferrari. The topic was figuring out how an all-electric Ferrari would retain the Ferrari-specific styling cues while also having the styling communicate the new technology within. A complex challenge indeed.
Maybe I like the quote because I identify with it. This may surprise you, but accounting and business problems are occasionally very complex, but once resolved become quite simple and appear, in hindsight, obvious. I’m not saying journal entries are like styling Ferraris, but sometimes they can be very complex challenges.
Let me give you an example. Some of the most challenging transactions I’ve ever had to record involve multiple parties. Once I was involved in a borrowing that was shared by five separate entities plus a guarantor. One transaction, five general ledgers. One loan, five borrowers. This was at a place I worked as the VP of Finance, so I gave it to my best bookkeeper, who gave up. Then I gave it to the controller, who eventually gave up. So, I made the entries.
Now I get this sort of thing from clients. I don’t do bookkeeping much, but when there is something the client’s bookkeeper or accountant or controller can’t figure out how to record, I get the call. It has long been this way.
I’ve always maintained that if you can’t journalize a transaction, you really don’t understand it. So far, I’ve never found a transaction I couldn’t record.
Part of this is having a black belt in accounting. Part of it is having a very logical thought process. And part of this is a technique I use when I get stuck. After a long struggle, sometimes I realize I’m not going to figure this out today. I put it aside and sleep on it. The next day, almost inevitably, I’m able to solve the problem quite quickly. Clarity seems to come with rest and subconscious processing. And the solution often seems quite simple after it is done.
During REM sleep, emotional processing and memory reconsolidation occur. Our brains also strengthen neural connections formed by the previous day’s experiences and integrate them into existing networks, according to Dr. Rebecca Robins, an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School. REM is like a form of overnight therapy.
While I’ve observed this pattern in myself for most of my life, it was only a recent article in the New York Times that provided me with a medical explanation for why this method seems to work for me.
Do you have techniques that work for you when you become stuck on solving a difficult challenge? How do you resolve complexity and make it simple? I’d be interested in hearing what works for you. And if I get enough responses, I might turn it into a blog. After all, what works for you or I might be helpful to others, so why not share?
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