The smartest people make things simple

From the New York Times and an interview with American Water CEO Susan Story:

"When I graduated in 1981, I was a female engineer. I had really good grades, so I ended up with 17 job offers from all over the country. One thing I’ve done from the start is that I’ve never gone into a job and looked at the job description and just said, “This is what I need to do.” It’s about doing the job but also looking around for what’s not getting done that would bring value. When I would raise my hand, it was appreciated. Another big lesson I learned early on is the importance of communication skills. Engineers aren’t universally known for having strong communication skills, but I loved English. I found that it’s one thing to know things and have ideas, and it’s another thing to be able to communicate them. This was reinforced by a former C.E.O. of the Southern Company, Allen Franklin, who said, “The smartest people make things simple.” If you really want to win people’s hearts in complex organizations, you have to know how to communicate it in a way that people understand."