Degrees of Design

Posted on April 18, 2008
Filed Under Quote |

“What we meant by that was when you start looking at a problem and it seems really simple with all these simple solutions, you don’t really understand the complexity of the problem. And your solutions are way too oversimplified, and they don’t work. Then you get into the problem, and you see it’s really complicated. And you come up with all these convoluted solutions. That’s sort of the middle, and that’s where most people stop, and the solutions tend to work for a while. But the really great person will keep on going and find, sort of, the key, underlying principle of the problem. And come up with a beautiful elegant solution that works.”

~ Steve Jobs: The Perfect Thing; How the iPod Shuffles; Commerce, Culture, and Coolness by Steven Levy

I may hang the last two lines of this quote over my computer. This is a really great summary of the creative process that I’ve noticed as I’ve attacked various math and design problems. Getting complex problems right is hard, and finding easy solutions that are applicable to a whole class of problems is damn near impossible. The ability to solve a problem elegantly is not a gift, but won through determination and practice.

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Comments

2 Responses to “Degrees of Design”

  1. Chops on April 22nd, 2008 1:01 pm

    I really like the quotes that you pick for your blogsite. This one is very good, as I totally agree with Jobs that determination and hardwork are the elements that separate successful people from unsuccessful people. No one is innately talented to understand and solve problems, it comes through hardwork and determination.

  2. Chops on April 22nd, 2008 1:01 pm

    “Never give up, never surrender!”

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