Simplicity

Recommended book

Simplicity-Edward de Bono

Simplicity makes it much easier to do things.

Often the traditional way of doing things is long and complex. A simpler way can sometimes be found.

There are 131 entrants for a singles elimination tennis tournament. How many matches do there have to be in order to produce the champion?

It is possible to work this out in the traditional way by working backwards. There is to be one match in the finals. There will be two matches in the semifinals- and so on. Eventually you will come to the first round. Some players will have byes and go straight into the second round.

There is a simpler way to do it.

If there is one winner then there must be 130 losers in the tournament. Since each loser is produced by one match there needs to be 130 matches to produce 130 losers. It is as simple as that =)