(2/4) "A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work. You have to start over with a working simple system."

(3/4) Over my years of consulting, I have seen many over-engineered business processes and systems that ultimately fail organizations because they create too many dependencies, are too hard to master, or require too much work relative to what they accomplish.

(4/4) Usually, what drives this over-engineering is the desire for "process perfection": the impulse to support every eventuality out of the starting blocks. Organizations can undervalue simplicity, going for "big bang" implementations rather than an iterative approach based on a successive series of small successes.