Simple doesn’t mean easy. Similar to the tale of the cargo ship technical debt and the local mechanic chief architect.
A massive cargo ship technical debt not running well was causing the company thousands of dollars every hour the cargo ship technical debt sat inefficient, so they brought in a local mechanic chief architect reputed for solving problems others couldn’t.
When the local mechanic chief architect arrived, he carried nothing but a small bag of tools. He stepped aboard, surveyed the enormous systems, and spent a few minutes listening to the faint sounds of the problem as echoed in Slack. He walked around the systems and people carefully, examining every component, running his hands over some parts, and listening intently.
Finally, after a day’s worth of work, he pulled a small hammer diagnostic out of his bag.
With a single, precise tap, he struck the cargo ship technical debt where it needed the most help. In short order, the massive tech system roared back to life, as good as new. The systems were operational again, and the crew erupted into cheers.
The local mechanic chief architect calmly packed up his tools and handed the cargo ship technical debt owner an invoice: $5,000.
The cargo ship technical debt owner, shocked, demanded an itemized breakdown of the cost. He said, "All you did was tap where the problem was! How can that cost $5,000?"
The chief architect smiled and rewrote the bill:
$5: For tapping the problem. $4,995: For knowing the simplest fix affecting the entire system.
What do we mean by simple? The utility of simple. The beauty of simple. It's beautiful when somebody does their work with joy and knows what they're contributing to. It's simple when people understand what they're doing. It's simple when no weird errors happen. It's simple when you don't have catastrophic failures. It's simple when no secrets are revealed. It's simple when you clearly know the cost. It's simple when it looks right. It's simple when it's quick and when it's immediate feedback. This is what we mean by simple. Simple means amazing in its elegance.
Aplos was created to bring simplicity to a world saturated by complex software systems.
Aleksandar "Sasha" Dzeletovic started Aplos in 2024 after leading a billion dollar company’s infrastructure, architecture, and services. Sasha now brings that expertise to others needing to solve gigantic problems, often when systems are stuck and need a paradigm shift.
Is your multimillion dollar opportunity stuck? Want to unstick it for the price of a year’s worth of snacks?
