The expression, K.I.S.S. – “Keep it simple stupid” does not have a comma. It is not a presumptive insult calling someone stupid. K.I.S.S asks that we be brilliant. It is a challenge!
The acronym was first coined by Kelly Johnson, lead engineer at the Lockheed
Skunk Works (creators of the Lockheed U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird spy planes, among many others).
The principle is best exemplified by the story of Johnson handing a team of design engineers a handful of tools, with the challenge that the jet aircraft they were designing must be repairable by an average mechanic in the field under combat conditions with only these tools. Hence, the ‘stupid’ refers to the relationship between the way things break and the sophistication available to fix them.*
How clear it your message to others? How is it understood by the average person? Reduce it until there is nothing left to take away. Are you up to the challenge?
“It seems that perfection is reached not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away”. Antoine de Saint Exupéry‘s
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KISS_principle
