# It's Only... By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2025-01-05 There is an interesting phrase used by executives when discussing things with technocrats. The phrase is, “it’s only…” This phrase is frequently used, intentionally or not, to minimize the complexity of the task being discussed. The phrase conveys a reductionist mindset. But there is more than that. First, there is a difference between something being reduced to a simple formulation and something being easy to execute. Even if what one is engaged in “is only” what is being described, something might be highly complex. After all, sending astronauts to the moon is only blasting them off the Earth and having them land safely on the moon. Second, it makes it seem that the executive reducing the complex task to a simple formulation implies to the technical people who are doing the complex task that the executive can also do the task because it isn’t all that complex. As the saying goes, more is said than done when all is said and done. Executives do this to technocrats frequently. Technocrats rarely do this to executives. This is ironic because being an executive is easy. It’s only finding random information to send to people who already know what they are doing. #### Related Items [[Execution]] [[Executives]] [[Technocrats]] [[Language]] [[Complexity]] [[Simplicity]] [[Organization]]