We often think the opposite of simple is complex. This often on display when we talk of user experience in technology. We want the user experience to be simple. We also see it in discussions of business processes and project activities. And we see it in politicians who want simple sound bites when talking about complex issues.

But we also see it when we talk about responsible data practices in our work. Or when we talk about creating awareness among those we work with about how we use data about them.

Sometimes, in those conversations, it appears we treat care as the opposite of simple. We want a process, a message that is simple to deliver and implement so we can move on. Care requires time, money, and multiple interactions. And we see those requirements as the opposite of simple.

Somehow we have equated simple with off-the-shelf check box one-off activities. And weirdly, we’ve regulated the time and effort it takes to ‘care for those we seek to serve’ as too complex. Somehow creating awareness and understanding about how we use data about the people we work is viewed as a luxury activity, not an essential. Care has become a luxury and too complex. Care has become the opposite of simple.

How we view the people we seek to serve, especially when they are not the ones paying our bills, is a choice. Is creating awareness and understanding a luxury or an essential? Where do you sit on the spectrum? Where do you want to be?

The choice is up to you.

Photo by Rachel