Working in the software industry has taught me one thing. There is a lot of unneeded complexity going on.
But it also made me wonder, why is that? Why do we seem to favour complexity over simplicity?
In this post I will try to give my ideas on this from various points of view.

As a project manager

A project manager has way more to do when a project is complex. So a project manager normally doesn't shine away from complexity. Yes it might make a project pass deadlines and budget. But is also allows to graph complex schemas and such to illustrate the complexity.

As a developer

As a developer it's way more interesting to work on something complex then something simple. Working on a complex solution gives the feeling that the developer can really shine by coming up with solutions for the complex situation, really showing the added value.

If the solution would be simple, then why is the highly experienced developer needed? And why does the project take so much time?

A complex solution often means that lot's of code need to be written. This means that developer, when working for a certain type of company, can excel by having many commits, introducing many lines of code. Because there a companies that use this as a metric for productivity.

As a development team

As a development team, complexity also has it's advantage. It means that meetings can be planned, often favoured by the project manager, to discuss the complexities and to come up with really smart (and complex) solutions.

As a (consulting) company

As a (consulting) company, complex solutions often mean that the project is higher priced. Which is usually good for the the business. Also by delivering a complex project, the company can really prove its added value. And if the customer is happy and wants a change, then probably the company that build the original solution is the only one that can adapt is anyway. As they have the knowledge on how it was build the first place.

How should we deal with this?

As the above views illustrate we should also look to something different. What would happen if we reduce the complexity? What if simple solutions would prevail? What would be the impact of that.

Yes, with a simple solution there is a change that 'only' 80% of the use-cases might be covered, which means that 20% of the cases there is no solution. But is we are honest, and look to the famous 80-20 rules, is the missing 20% really worth the 80% of the costs and complexity it brings?

For a developer it means that the experience can shine by simplifying the problem. Which is often a really hard task, and that is something that should be valued.

A company can shine in helping a customer with a solution that is simple to use and covers most use cases. And with the money saved the customer might be able to adapt work processes, finding other solutions for the 'missing' 20%. And probably is many cases it will turn out, that it isn't even 20% that needs to change.

For a development team their meetings can still take place, but they can go about how to reduce complexity. How to create the simplest solution that still covers most of the use-cases?

For a project manager the presentations will become vastly different. They will illustrate how that a complex problem is broken down in something smaller, simpler and matching better the expectations of the customer.