Earlier today, I was listening to an episode of the Exponential Wisdom podcast hosted by Peter Diamandis and Dan Sullivan.

In one episode, they discussed the notion of simplifiers vs. multipliers and how they differ from one another.

Essentially, a simplifier is someone who takes complex things and simplifies them. Great entrepreneurs are able to take a difficult task and make it simpler for their consumers to understand.

If you want to listen to music, instead of going to a music shop and purchasing music, why not put in your headphones to your phone and purchase and listen to music?

Simplifiers are those who have the capacity and vision to transform complicated things into simple goods.

With the Macintosh, Steve Wozniak simplified things.

With containerisation of shipping, Malcolm McLean simplified things.

A multiplier, on the other hand, is someone who takes something that is simple and multiplies it out into the world.

Multipliers are the ones that go out to sell their products. According to Malcolm Gladwell’s book Tipping Point, they are referred to as “connectors.”

Multipliers are seldom individuals who generate ideas, and they are not particularly adept at reducing complex situations. However, they have networks and access to people and networks that can spread ideas throughout the world.

Richard and Maurice McDonald invented a fantastic technique to make a burger faster, but it wasn’t until 1961 that Raymond Albert Kroc bought the fast food firm and ran it from 1967 to 1973. Kroc is credited for expanding McDonald’s globally, making it the world’s most successful fast food chain.

Richard and Maurice McDonald are simpliers.

Ray Kroc is a multiplier.

It is impossible to be both at the same time, and knowing which you are allows you to get greater insight and meaning from the way you automatically create value.

Knowing yourself allows you to locate the ideal collaborator: someone who is diametrically opposed to your personality.

Collaborations between Simplifiers and Multipliers produce breakthroughs and outcomes that are unmatched in the industry, and they allow you to concentrate only on your strengths.

Which one do you identify with? Are you more of a simplifier or more of a multiplier?