“Colin Powell says ‘Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers’ – Richard's book Simple Thinking helps you search for ways to simplify things so you too can become a great leader.”
Nick Raphael, President of Capitol Records UK
“Success is not complicated; it doesn't have a secret formula; it is about people, behaviours and attitudes; Richard's brilliant book covers all three.”
Dave Bassett, former Football Manager
“This new book by the remarkable Richard Gerver packs in more of that rarest commodity, common sense, than most of us encounter in a lifetime. There is so much of real value here that just one reading is nothing like enough: I will be returning to it again and again, for reassurance as well as inspiration. It is a boon in waiting.”
“A fascinating subject, expertly addressed by a very talented author. This book will provide a very real insight into how the answers we strive for are not quite as complicated as we may think they are.”
Sam Rush, CEO and President of Derby County FC
This edition first published 2016
© 2016 Richard Gerver
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Gerver, Richard, author.
Title: Simple Thinking: how to remove complexity from life and work / Richard Gerver.
Description: Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons,
2016. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016010577 | ISBN 9780857086877 (pbk.) |
ISBN 9780857086891 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Success. | Self-realization. | Simplicity.
Classification: LCC BF637.S8 .G424 2016 | DDC 650.1–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016010577
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-0-857-08687-7 (paperback)
ISBN 978-0-857-08685-3 (ebk) ISBN 978-0-857-08689-1 (ebk)
Cover design: Wiley
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.”
Ernst F. Schumacher
I was recently in Seattle for work and on my day off I visited the commercial Mecca of coffee: Starbuck's original store next to Pike Place Market. I arrived mid-afternoon and the queue was huge, spilling out of the door and at least two blocks long. Outside was an old guy picking on a banjo. The smell of the freshly roasted coffee mixed with the other smells of the market was intoxicating. As the queue moved forward and as I got closer to the store, I began to feel a growing sense of anxiety. You see, I'm not a coffee connoisseur; I love coffee but I drink it black, no sugar: simple. As I tuned into the conversations around me I heard people discussing what they were going to have from this historic shop. I had no idea what they were talking about, “
