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The "The Minimum" Principle



Everyone has heard the expression "less is more" but is the principle really true? Should we all ride bicycles since bicycles are "less" than cars? Should we regress back to the days of bows and arrows? Are typewriters better than computers? Surely not.

A more helpful principle is "The Minimum Principle."

The Minimum Principle is about achieving your goals without adopting unnecessary baggage. It is about balance. About the need to maximize your goals while eliminating all things unnecessary. In the sales world it is known as "reducing friction." In the electrical engineering world it is known as "impedance matching." In the physics world the minimum principle is the basis for "Hamilton's Equations." At home it's called "keeping your mouth shut."

In the paperwork automation world the minimum principle means achieving your paperwork automation goals with a minimal level of software, a minimum level of user-interaction, and a minimal level of administrative effort. Here are a few examples for each of these areas.

Minimized Applications
At Aestiva we listen to your requirements and recommend you use as few software applications as possible to achieve your business goals. If a single electronic form can be used to serve multiple types of requests then we recommend a single form, not multiple forms. Paperwork optimizations are easier to manage, have lower training requirements, and produce fewer problems when you have fewer systems to manage. It's that simple.

Minimized End-User Decisions
There's an almost endless number of ways to minimize and streamline end-user interaction - perhaps because there's an almost endless number of ways to make end-user interaction more complicated than necessary. At Aestiva we don't say "sure, capture that information too" if you do not need the information. We don't say,"sure, add that feature too." if there's no need for the feature. We help our customers avoid the temptations.

Minimized Administration
Automations require administrative overhead. If the department of a user is automatically set up when a user fills out an electronic form, then somewhere an administrator is needed to tell the system which departments relate to which users. This is a simple example of administrative overhead. Other areas in need of administrative minimization: reconciliation, complexities, the need for training. You get best results when you can minimize both the work needed by end-users and the work needed by administrators.

The minimizations mentioned above are the tip of the iceberg. There are a limitless number of situations demanding minimization. For Aestiva, being a good partner means being balanced. Providing advanced technology and advanced features to satisfy just about any paperwork automation need, but at the same time, doing our diligence at protecting our customers via the teachings of the minimization principle.


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