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Ockham's Discipline

A short note on why simpler solutions outperform — particularly in dynamic markets.

ThoughtbankDecember 20254 min read

William of Ockham was, in his way, an early student of strategy. The principle that bears his name is often reduced to a slogan; in practice it is a discipline.

In growth-stage companies, complexity accumulates quietly — in process, in product, in the org chart. The work of strategy is often the work of removal: returning to first principles, identifying the smallest set of decisions that produce the desired outcome, and resisting the impulse to add.

Simpler is not easier. It is, almost always, harder.