Occam’s Razor (Avoid Unnecessary Complexity)!

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Occam’s Razor (Avoid Unnecessary Complexity)! / 080, 17 Jun 2023

Occam’s (Ockham’s) razor?is a principle that is attributed to 14th century philosopher William of Ockham, who during his lifetime, fervently believed that the simplest solution – with the least assumptions – should be preferred over others. He articulated it so frequently and sharply in his arguments and writings that it came to be called his ‘razor’ by other philosophers and writers. During his time, it was used for philosophical or theological arguments; but over the years this principle has been adapted for use in diverse scenarios. In management, the ‘razor’ can be used for cutting through the clutter of complex data sets in decision making. Even in AI and ML, the ‘razor’ is metaphorically used to shave off data that is not essential, and to focus on analysis with minimum assumptions. Let us take a look at this principle and understand its relevance for us.

We all know that decision making is getting increasingly complex. To add to our burden, the costs and impacts of a potentially wrong decision today are high for any business. With such low margins for error, managers naturally tend to be cautious and lower the risk by asking for more data, or by delaying the decision until situation becomes urgent, or by breaking it down into smaller decisions, etc. By wielding the Occam’s razor, it is possible for us to avoid big errors while taking faster decisions, as below:

• Reducing assumptions: Assumptions are vital and necessary, but like usage of table salt, it has to be just right, as even one extra assumption can spoil the whole result. The Occam’s Razor principle helps us to focus on the core data with least assumptions. For example, while forecasting different market scenarios to decide on investments, we can look at the least optimistic one to see if that still justifies investment. ?
• Simplifying data sets: As we look at the data, by applying the Occam’s Razor, we can focus on the essential ones and ignore all others. This reduces the number of factors and increases clarity all around. For example, when looking at growth, we can remove the currency values and focus on just the volume growth in numbers, because currency has inflation and other variables baked in.?
• Speeding up decision making: The real benefit of the Occam’s razor lies in the fact that decision quality and speed improve, releasing a burst of energy and action into organisations, rather than perpetuate a hazy cloud of uncertainty. As the saying goes, an imperfect decision is way better than a delayed decision!

Very few principles stand the test of time for so long; as the Occam’s razor has. What is even more remarkable is the fact that it has lent itself to multiple adaptions over time, starting from theology in the 14th century to AI and ML in the 21st. I hope you enjoyed reading this one, and as always, I request you to share your own thoughts and experiences in the comments section. Let us build a conversation on this topic!

Warm regards, Krishnakumar.

Image courtesy:

How Bayesian methods embody Occam’s razor?

References:

How Bayesian methods embody Occam’s razor | by Felix Laumann | NeuralSpace | Medium

Mereology | logic | Britannica

Occam's razor - Wikipedia