Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

To Steve Jobs, Simplicity was a religion. It was also a weapon.

Simplicity isn't just a design principle at Apple--it's a value that permeates every level of the organization. The obsession with Simplicity is what separates Apple from other technology companies. It's what helped Apple recover from near death in 1997 to become the most valuable company on Earth in 2011.

Thanks to Steve Jobs's uncompromising ways, you can see Simplicity in everything Apple does: the way it's structured, the way it innovates, and the way it speaks to its customers.

It's by crushing the forces of Complexity that the company remains on its stellar trajectory.

As ad agency creative director, Ken Segall played a key role in Apple's resurrection, helping to create such critical marketing campaigns as Think different. By naming the iMac, he also laid the foundation for naming waves of i-products to come.

Segall has a unique perspective, given his years of experience creating campaigns for other iconic tech companies, including IBM, Intel, and Dell. It was the stark contrast of Apple's ways that made Segall appreciate the power of Simplicity--and inspired him to help others benefit from it.

In Insanely Simple , you'll be a fly on the wall inside a conference room with Steve Jobs, and on the receiving end of his midnight phone calls. You'll understand how his obsession with Simplicity helped Apple perform better and faster, sometimes saving millions in the process. You'll also learn, for example, how to:

* Think Minimal: Distilling choices to a minimum brings clarity to a company and its customers--as Jobs proved when he replaced over twenty product models with a lineup of four.
* Think Small: Swearing allegiance to the concept of "small groups of smart people" raises both morale and productivity.
* Think Motion: Keeping project teams in constant motion focuses creative thinking on well-defined goals and minimizes distractions.
* Think Iconic: Using a simple, powerful image to symbolize the benefit of a product or idea creates a deeper impression in the minds of customers.
* Think War: Giving yourself an unfair advantage--using every weapon at your disposal--is the best way to ensure that your ideas survive unscathed.

Segall brings Apple's quest for Simplicity to life using fascinating (and previously untold) stories from behind the scenes. Through his insight and wit, you'll discover how companies that leverage this power can stand out from competitors--and individuals who master it can become critical assets to their organizations.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Blogger and industry veteran Segall, who spent 12 years working with Steve Jobs at NeXT and Apple, gives his behind-the-scenes insight into Apple's success. While other current titles focus on Jobs's life (e.g., Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs and Caleb Melby and JESS3's The Zen of Steve Jobs), Segall, in his first book, highlights ten elements of simplicity that can be used by other businesses to achieve results similar to Apple's. He also uses stories from his personal experience to illustrate these concepts. Segall, who also worked at Dell and Intel, shows how Apple's business model compares with others in the industry. VERDICT This book provides industry insight that many other books on Steve Jobs and Apple lack; however, since Segall is writing from an insider's perspective, his view is not entirely objective. Nevertheless, the business principles are still relevant. Recommended for those looking for advice on running a successful corporation and readers interested in all things Apple.-Lisa Felix, Mishawaka-Penn-Harris P.L., IN (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

In this captivating book, Segall (who worked with Jobs as agency creative director for NeXT and Apple and named the iMac) has succeeded in distilling what made Steve Jobs succeed in ways no one would have imagined-simplicity. The idea of going simple, and Jobs's obsession with it, is neither a set of rules nor a goal, but a worldview of how things should be and should proceed. Presenting simple from almost every angle (advertising slogans, product names, product lines, group sizes), Segall shows how simple has propelled Apple, creating powerful changes within the company. Contrast this with the path of complexity, of which Segall offers plenty of examples from companies such as Intel, Microsoft, and Dell. More practical than theoretical, this essential book is about "using the power of Simplicity to set a company apart." Readers will appreciate personal stories about Jobs, which contribute to the narrative of Jobs the icon, and the role simplicity played in his success. Agent: Christy Fletcher, Fletcher & Company. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Segall worked with Steve Jobs for 12 years, as creative director at Apple and NeXT Computer, and also spent time as agency global creative director at Dell, IBM, Intel, and BMW. As the man who came up with the iconic iMac name, which launched one of the most successful product lines in history, Segall played a pivotal role in reviving Apple from near death. His close working relationship with Jobs allows him to provide insight into how Jobs' obsession with simplicity became the driving force that informs every decision the company makes to this day, from product design to advertising, even down to the packing boxes. Segall contrasts this Apple mind-set with those of companies like Dell, Intel, and Microsoft, where complexity and a dizzying array of product choices only serve to confuse and distract customers. His recounting of high-level meetings, ad campaigns, and product-naming sessions reveals much about how Jobs' unyielding, brutally honest approach pushed aside rivals, teams of lawyers, and everyone else who said it couldn't be done to remake Apple into one of the most admired and valuable companies in the world.--Siegfried, David Copyright 2010 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

Steve Jobs' longtime advertising guru weighs in with a memoir/extra-long promotional brochure about the secret to Apple's success: Simplicity with a capital S. Inveterate copywriter Segall's goal is to sell readers on the idea of how the ruthless but noble Jobs beat his Silicon Valley competition into submission using his "Simplicity Stick." Like an inescapable mantra throughout the book, the author constantly reiterates the idea of Apple's colossal struggle against Simplicity's worst foe: Complexity. When Jobs left NeXT to head up Apple, he went on a mission to streamline his products to make them simpler to use than those of complexity-loving rival brands such as Intel and Dell. In relating Jobs' monomaniacal mission to make the world of handheld technology a simpler place, Segall employs an unsettling combination of militaristic language and softer terms that suggest humanist sensitivity in Apple's quest for global domination. Describing Jobs' commitment to brutal honesty with his employees, the author writes, "Being straight with people alone does not make you a heartless bastard." Of course, having well-documented ties to sweatshop labor doesn't exactly make you a paragon of virtue. Readers should not expect to find unpleasant facts that undermine the deification of the author's subject. Although Segall fully discloses Jobs' well-known tendency to steal ideas from competitors, this dubious characteristic doesn't stop the author from painting a broader portrait of Jobs as a tirade-prone earthbound god ruling his Apple kingdom with fear, while generously dispensing technological convenience to the grateful masses. "Steve's greatest achievement wasn't a Mac, iPod, iPhone, or iPad," writes the author. "He accomplished something that no one had even contemplated before. Steve Jobs built a monument to Simplicity. That monument is Apple itself." Fine inspirational material for aspiring tech moguls, but far too propagandistic.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.