“Do Not Touch Any Of These Wires”

We get a kick out of images like this one at the left. How in the world could somebody let a system get so out of control?

When Alan Kay shows this picture, he points out that every wire was put there for a reason, to solve some particular problem. The excessive complication of the wires probably masks some moderate underlying level of complexity. As Kay points out, when we hit the “Yikes!” moment, we’ve got to figure out what caused the “Yikes!” moment. Was it complexity or complications?

Complications are noise that can turn a complex situation into “Yikes!”

The problem with our server room? If you start pulling wires, you’re screwed.

Now tell me how the ad tech ecosystem below is any different than our server room? I get the same answer when I ask about pulling ad tech and mar tech wires: “If you do it, you’re screwed.”

“Do Not Touch Any Of These Wires”

I think that a lot of the complications and noise have been added intentionally to create a “wire” of money that the advertiser or publisher dare not pull.

Takeaway: Avoid adding complication to address complexity. Avoid adding noise. And win.