Simplicity: The Secret to Sustainable Reliability
"There are two ways of constructing a software design: one way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies."
— Sir Tony Hoare
When it comes to asset reliability, most organizations don’t fail because of a lack of tools, data, or technology. They fail because they try to do too much — too soon, too fast, too complex.
Simplicity is not a sign of unsophistication. It is a hard-won outcome of deep understanding.
Sir Tony Hoare, a Turing Award-winning computer scientist, learned this lesson the hard way. In a famous lecture, The Emperor’s Old Clothes, he described how excessive complexity doomed one of his software projects to failure. His conclusion: "The unavoidable price of reliability is simplicity."
This wisdom applies far beyond software. In asset-heavy operations — from manufacturing plants to transportation fleets to energy infrastructure — the most successful reliability programs are those that strip away noise and focus on mastering the fundamentals.
Defining Reliability in Your Context
At its core, reliability means:
the probability that a piece of equipment or process will perform its intended function without failure for a specified period under design conditions.
But in practice, top-performing organizations go further. They:
✅ Define reliability at the organizational, system, and asset level
✅ Specify what reliable performance looks like — not just “no failures”
✅ Build clear operational expectations that guide day-to-day decisions
Take the example of a passenger car. A reliable car isn’t just one that starts. It’s one that consistently meets expectations such as:
Completing trips successfully
Maintaining comfortable cabin temperature
Providing smooth starts, acceleration, and braking
Minimizing cabin noise
Ensuring comfort for all passengers
Reliability is about outcomes, not just uptime.
The Five Fundamentals of Reliability Excellence
Organizations that lead in reliability excellence share one key trait: they do not chase silver bullets.
They focus relentlessly on doing the simple things exceptionally well.
Here are the five fundamentals:
1️⃣ Know What Work to Do — and Why
Reliability starts with basic care — cleaning, inspection, lubrication — but goes much further.
Top organizations require comprehensive maintenance strategies that address:
Manufacturer recommendations
Criticality and complexity of equipment
Functional failure modes
Opportunities for proactive defect elimination
They know what work matters most, and they align their processes accordingly.
2️⃣ Execute Maintenance with Discipline
World-class maintenance organizations:
Plan and schedule work in detail
Ensure the right resources (parts, labor, tools) are ready
Execute work as planned and on time
Track results against well-defined KPIs
Discipline beats heroics every time.
3️⃣ Anticipate and Manage Failures
Not every failure should be prevented. Top organizations intentionally run certain assets to failure — when doing so is economically and operationally sound.
Example: The cabin light in your car. No one performs preventive maintenance on it. You replace the bulb when it fails — with no significant operational impact.
Knowing when to tolerate failure is just as important as knowing when to prevent it.
4️⃣ Measure Performance and Use Analytics
Leading organizations obsessively track asset performance:
Repair history (planned and unplanned)
Duration and cost of repairs
Parts and materials consumed
Root causes of failures
They leverage this data to drive continuous improvement: eliminating root causes, optimizing maintenance, and lowering costs.
Without data, reliability is just guesswork.
5️⃣ Leverage Digital Solutions — Without Chasing Shiny Objects
Digital tools — condition monitoring, CMMS platforms, advanced analytics, and even generative AI — can unlock new levels of reliability performance.
But technology is not a substitute for fundamentals. It is an accelerator when used appropriately.
Smart organizations apply digital tools where they add clear value — and resist adding complexity for its own sake.
The Bottom Line: Simplicity Is Hard — and Worth It
Sustaining high reliability in an asset-heavy operation is not easy. It requires rigor, discipline, and continuous learning.
But complexity is not the answer. In fact, it is often the enemy of progress.
The organizations that thrive are those that:
✅ Focus on the core fundamentals
✅ Maintain a culture of disciplined execution
✅ Regularly review and simplify their reliability programs
✅ Use digital tools to amplify — not replace — good practices
As Tony Hoare reminded us: the unavoidable price of reliability is simplicity.
It’s a price worth paying.