Donald Sull and Kathleen Eisenhardt – Simple Rules: Book Review & Audio Summary

Book Info

• Book name: Simple Rules: How to Thrive in a Complex World
• Author: Donald Sull, Kathleen Eisenhardt
• Genre: Business & Economics, Self-Help & Personal Development
• Pages: 272
• Published Year: 2015
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
• Language: English

Audio Summary

Synopsis

In a world drowning in complexity, Donald Sull and Kathleen Eisenhardt offer a refreshing antidote: simple rules. Drawing from decades of research across businesses, healthcare, and even nature, the authors demonstrate how a handful of well-crafted guidelines can outperform elaborate systems and thick rulebooks. From Japanese honeybees defeating hornets through coordinated simplicity to successful companies thriving with minimal bureaucracy, this book reveals why less is often more. Whether you’re managing a team, starting a diet, or navigating career decisions, Simple Rules shows you how to cut through the noise, focus on what truly matters, and make better choices faster in our increasingly interconnected world.

Key Takeaways

• Simple rules help us navigate overwhelming complexity by focusing only on what truly matters, enabling faster and better decision-making
• The most effective rules are few in number (typically 3-7), easy to remember, and provide guidance without being overly prescriptive
• Simple rules foster creativity and coordination, allowing individuals and teams to adapt flexibly while working toward shared goals
• Successful organizations in the modern economy increasingly favor simple rule sets over elaborate bureaucratic systems
• Creating effective simple rules requires identifying well-defined activities and distilling complex information into actionable guidelines

My Summary

Why We’re Drowning in Complexity (And How Simple Rules Throw Us a Lifeline)

I’ll be honest with you—when I first picked up “Simple Rules,” I was skeptical. Another business book promising to solve all my problems? Yeah, right. But as I settled into my reading chair with that obligatory cup of coffee, something clicked. Donald Sull from London Business School and Kathleen Eisenhardt from Stanford weren’t just rehashing management platitudes. They were onto something genuinely useful.

The book opens with a scenario that immediately grabbed me: imagine you’re a doctor in an army hospital, multiple wounded patients arrive simultaneously, and you have seconds to decide who gets treated first. No time for deliberation, no room for error. This is where simple rules become literally life-saving.

The triage system uses straightforward vital sign checks—pulse, breathing, responsiveness—to categorize patients in under a minute. Those with the most alarming signs get immediate attention unless they’re beyond saving. It’s brutal in its efficiency, but it works. This example perfectly illustrates what Sull and Eisenhardt mean by simple rules: clear guidelines for well-defined situations that help you make good choices fast.

What struck me most was their argument about why we need simple rules more now than ever. Our world has become absurdly complex. Everything’s interconnected—our devices sync across platforms, markets influence each other globally, and regulations have spiraled into incomprehensible labyrinths. The authors cite the U.S. tax code as a prime example: 3.8 million words long, seven times longer than “War and Peace.” Even more alarming? The IRS employs 1.2 million tax preparers to help people navigate this monster, and these experts still get it wrong one-third of the time.

If the experts can’t handle the complexity, what chance do the rest of us have? That’s precisely the problem simple rules solve.

The Power of Three (Or Five, But Definitely Not Fifty)

Here’s where the book really won me over. Sull and Eisenhardt don’t just tell you that simple rules work—they show you exactly why, backed by research and real-world examples that span from corporate boardrooms to the animal kingdom.

The first major advantage of simple rules is their memorability. If you can’t remember the rules, you won’t follow them. Period. The authors illustrate this beautifully with Michael Pollan’s famous diet advice, which condenses decades of nutritional research into three rules: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

When I read this, I thought about all those diet books collecting dust on my shelf—each one packed with meal plans, calorie counts, food pyramids, and restrictions that would make a monk weep. I’d start enthusiastically, then gradually forget half the guidelines, feel overwhelmed, and eventually abandon the whole thing. Pollan’s three rules? I’ve remembered them for years without trying. And according to scientific research cited in the book, following these simple guidelines actually reduces your risk of diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.

But here’s the second advantage that really resonated with me as a creative person: simple rules aren’t overly prescriptive. They guide without suffocating. Pollan’s rules don’t tell you whether to have blueberries or whole-grain toast for breakfast. They give you a framework and trust you to make intelligent choices within it.

The authors use Claude Monet as a fascinating example of how constraints can foster creativity. Monet imposed simple rules on himself: limit your subjects (mostly haystacks and water lilies) and focus on capturing light. These self-imposed boundaries didn’t restrict his artistry—they enabled him to explore deeply and create the revolutionary impressionist works we still admire today.

This insight has changed how I approach my own work at Books4soul.com. Instead of trying to cover every book under the sun, I’ve focused on specific genres and themes. That clarity has actually made my content more distinctive and valuable to readers.

When Honeybees Teach Us About Teamwork

One of the most delightful sections of the book explores how simple rules coordinate collective behavior—and the Japanese honeybee example is pure genius.

A single honeybee facing a giant hornet is toast. But when threatened, hundreds of bees cluster around the intruder and vibrate their wings rapidly in a coordinated attack called “thermoballing.” The collective heat generated literally cooks the hornet to death while the bees themselves survive (they can tolerate slightly higher temperatures than their enemy).

What enables this life-saving coordination? Simple rules that each bee follows instinctively. No elaborate planning sessions, no complex hierarchies—just clear, actionable guidelines that align individual actions toward a collective goal.

Sull and Eisenhardt argue that human organizations work the same way. Whether you’re building pyramids or launching a startup, you need coordination. But overly complex rules create confusion rather than clarity. People forget them, misinterpret them, or simply ignore them because they’re too cumbersome to follow.

The book presents compelling evidence from successful companies in the new economy that have ditched thick policy manuals in favor of simple rule sets. These organizations move faster, adapt more readily to changing conditions, and often outperform their more bureaucratic competitors.

I’ve seen this principle play out in my own experience working with publishing teams. The most dysfunctional projects I’ve been part of had endless guidelines, approval processes, and protocols. The smoothest collaborations? They usually operated on a handful of clear principles that everyone understood and bought into.

Crafting Your Own Simple Rules: The Practical Framework

Reading about simple rules is one thing; creating effective ones for your specific situation is another challenge entirely. Fortunately, Sull and Eisenhardt don’t leave us hanging. They provide a framework for developing rules that actually work.

The key is identifying well-defined activities or situations that matter most to your goals. This requires honest assessment and often some experimentation. You can’t create simple rules for everything—that defeats the purpose. Instead, focus on bottlenecks, recurring decisions, or high-stakes situations where better choices would significantly impact outcomes.

For businesses, this might mean rules for prioritizing product features, allocating resources, or deciding which opportunities to pursue. For individuals, it could be guidelines for managing time, spending money, or maintaining relationships.

The authors emphasize that effective simple rules share certain characteristics. They’re typically few in number—research suggests three to seven rules hit the sweet spot between providing guidance and remaining memorable. They’re concrete enough to guide action but flexible enough to allow adaptation. And they’re tailored to your specific context rather than generic advice that could apply to anyone.

One approach the book recommends is studying what works. Look at your past successes and failures. What patterns emerge? What factors consistently predict good outcomes? This evidence-based approach helps you distill complex experience into actionable wisdom.

Another strategy is learning from others who’ve solved similar problems. The book is filled with examples across industries and domains, demonstrating how simple rules have been successfully applied in diverse contexts—from venture capital investment decisions to managing hospital emergency rooms.

The Modern Relevance: Why This Matters More Than Ever

As I write this in 2024, the arguments in “Simple Rules” feel even more relevant than when the book was published in 2015. We’re drowning in information, notifications, choices, and complexity at levels the authors could barely have imagined.

The rise of artificial intelligence and automation might seem like it would solve our complexity problem—just let the algorithms handle it, right? But I’d argue the opposite is true. As machines take over routine tasks, the decisions left for humans become more nuanced, more ambiguous, and more consequent. We need frameworks for making these judgment calls, and simple rules provide exactly that.

Consider the modern workplace. Remote work, global teams, rapid technological change—these factors have made coordination simultaneously more important and more difficult. You can’t manage a distributed team with a 200-page employee handbook. But a handful of clear principles about communication, decision-making, and priorities? That can work beautifully.

The book’s insights also apply to our personal lives in the age of endless options. Should you learn Python or focus on your management skills? Spend Saturday with family or networking at that conference? Order from the restaurant with 47 menu items? Decision fatigue is real, and it’s exhausting.

Simple rules act as a filter, helping you quickly eliminate options that don’t align with your priorities. This isn’t about limiting yourself—it’s about channeling your energy toward what matters most.

Applying Simple Rules to Daily Life

Let me get practical for a moment and share how I’ve personally applied the book’s lessons, along with suggestions you might find useful.

Content Creation: After reading “Simple Rules,” I developed three guidelines for Books4soul.com: focus on books that challenge conventional thinking, write for curious generalists rather than academics, and always include practical takeaways. These rules help me decide which books to review and how to approach each summary. The clarity has been liberating.

Email Management: Instead of complex filing systems and elaborate protocols, I now follow simple rules: respond to anything requiring less than two minutes immediately, delete or archive everything that doesn’t need action, and batch-process the rest during designated times. My inbox anxiety has plummeted.

Financial Decisions: Many people struggle with spending choices. Simple rules can help: “Don’t buy anything over $100 without sleeping on it,” “Save 20% before spending,” or “Invest in experiences over things.” These guidelines won’t cover every scenario, but they’ll steer you right most of the time.

Relationship Maintenance: It’s easy to let important relationships slide when life gets busy. Simple rules like “Call Mom every Sunday,” “Have one device-free meal daily with family,” or “Reach out to one old friend monthly” create consistency without requiring elaborate planning.

Learning and Growth: Professional development can feel overwhelming with endless courses, books, and skills to master. Try rules like “Read one book monthly in your field,” “Practice new skills for 30 minutes daily,” or “Teach what you learn to solidify understanding.” Focus beats scattered effort every time.

Where the Book Falls Short

As much as I appreciated “Simple Rules,” I’d be dishonest if I didn’t acknowledge its limitations. The book sometimes feels like it oversimplifies (ironically) the challenge of creating effective simple rules. The authors make it sound straightforward: identify your bottleneck, study what works, distill into guidelines. Done!

In reality, this process can be messy and iterative. You might create rules that seem perfect but fail in practice. Or you’ll struggle to get buy-in from others who don’t share your vision. The book could have spent more time on these implementation challenges and how to overcome them.

Additionally, while the examples span various domains, they’re somewhat heavy on business case studies. Readers looking for more personal development applications might wish for additional examples from health, relationships, creativity, or other life domains.

Some critics have also noted that the book’s central premise—that simple rules outperform complex systems—doesn’t always hold true. Certain situations genuinely require nuanced, multifaceted approaches. The authors acknowledge this occasionally but could have explored the boundaries of their framework more thoroughly. When do you need complexity? How do you know if you’ve oversimplified?

How This Compares to Similar Books

If you’re interested in decision-making and managing complexity, “Simple Rules” fits into a broader conversation with several other excellent books.

Chip and Dan Heath’s “Decisive” offers a complementary framework called WRAP for making better choices. While “Decisive” focuses more on the decision-making process itself, “Simple Rules” emphasizes creating systems that make decisions easier over time. Both are valuable, and reading them together provides a comprehensive toolkit.

Richard Koch’s “The 80/20 Principle” shares the underlying philosophy that a few factors drive most results. Koch focuses on identifying and leveraging that vital 20%, while Sull and Eisenhardt provide a framework for translating that insight into actionable guidelines.

For those interested in the business strategy angle, “Good Strategy Bad Strategy” by Richard Rumelt offers deeper exploration of strategic thinking, while “Simple Rules” provides more accessible, immediately applicable tools. Rumelt is more theoretical; Sull and Eisenhardt are more practical.

Finally, James Clear’s “Atomic Habits” (published after “Simple Rules”) applies similar principles to habit formation. Clear’s focus on systems over goals echoes the simple rules philosophy, and his concrete habit-stacking techniques complement the broader framework Sull and Eisenhardt present.

Questions Worth Pondering

As I finished “Simple Rules,” several questions kept bouncing around my mind—the kind worth discussing with friends over coffee or mulling over during a long walk.

What areas of your life feel overwhelmingly complex right now? Where are you drowning in options, information, or conflicting advice? These are prime candidates for simple rules. But here’s the harder question: what are you afraid of simplifying? Sometimes we hide behind complexity because it feels safer than committing to clear principles that might prove us wrong.

Another thought: How do you balance the efficiency of simple rules with the richness of nuance and context? Life isn’t always simple, and sometimes the “right” answer depends on subtle factors that rules can’t capture. Where’s the line between helpful simplification and dangerous oversimplification?

I’d love to hear how readers of Books4soul.com think about these tensions. Have you successfully implemented simple rules in your work or life? What worked? What didn’t? Where did you find that following rules felt liberating versus constraining?

Final Thoughts: Simplicity as a Competitive Advantage

Here’s what I keep coming back to: in a world that rewards complexity—where we equate sophistication with intelligence and comprehensive plans with competence—choosing simplicity is almost radical. It takes confidence to say, “These three rules are enough.”

But that’s exactly what makes simple rules so powerful. While your competitors are paralyzed by analysis or drowning in their own bureaucracy, you’re moving forward with clarity and speed. While others are overwhelmed by infinite options, you’ve got a framework for deciding quickly and well.

Sull and Eisenhardt have written a book that’s both intellectually rigorous and immediately practical—a rare combination. Whether you’re leading an organization, managing a team, or just trying to get your own life together, “Simple Rules” offers wisdom that actually works.

The beauty of their approach is its meta-simplicity: the book’s core message can itself be distilled into simple rules. Focus on what matters most. Create clear, memorable guidelines. Leave room for flexibility and judgment. Test, learn, and refine.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the complexity of modern life (and honestly, who isn’t?), this book provides a genuine path forward. Not a magic solution, but a practical framework you can adapt to your unique circumstances.

I’d encourage you to pick up a copy and see which ideas resonate with your situation. Then do the hard work of translating those insights into your own simple rules. Start small—maybe just one area of life where you’d benefit from more clarity. Experiment, adjust, and see what happens.

And then come back and share your experience in the comments. What rules did you create? How did they work? What surprised you? The Books4soul.com community thrives on these conversations, and I genuinely learn as much from readers’ experiences as from the books themselves.

Because ultimately, that’s what “Simple Rules” is really about: not following someone else’s prescriptions, but developing the wisdom to create guidelines that work for you. And that’s a skill worth cultivating in our increasingly complex world.