So, basically we have public leaders, public officials who are out of control; they are writing bills that are unintelligible, and out of these bills are going to come maybe 40,000 pages of regulations, total complexity, which has a dramatically negative impact on our life. If you're a veteran coming back from Iraq or Vietnam you face a blizzard of paperwork to get your benefits; if you're trying to get a small business loan, you face a blizzard of paperwork.
Pe scurt, avem lideri publici si oficiali care sunt in afara controlului. Ei redacteaza legi care sunt neinteligibile. Si din aceste legi urmeaza sa iasa cam 40.000 de pagini de reglementari de mare complexitate, care au un impact negativ dramatic asupra vietii noastre. Daca esti un veteran care se intoarce din Irak sau din Vietnam trebuie sa infrunti o furtuna de hartogarie pentru a-ti capata drepturile si beneficiile. Daca incerci sa obtii un mic imprumut pentru afaceri esti expus unei furtuni de hartogarie.
What are we going to do about it? I define simplicity as a means to achieving clarity, transparency and empathy, building humanity into communications. I've been simplifying things for 30 years. I come out of the advertising and design business. My focus is understanding you people, and how you interact with the government to get your benefits, how you interact with corporations to decide whom you're going to do business with, and how you view brands.
Ce am putea face in privinta aceasta? As defini simplitatea ca mijlocul de dobandire a claritatii, transparentei si empatiei, si de promovare a umanitatii in comunicare. Timp de 30 de ani m-am ocupat de simplificarea lucrurilor. Provin din mediul de afaceri gen publicitate si design. Ma preocupa sa inteleg oamenii, sa va inteleg pe voi si felul in care interactionati cu guvernul pentru a va obtine beneficiile, cum interactionati cu corporatiile pentru a decide cu cine sa faceti afaceri, si ce impresie aveti despre anumite brand-uri.
So, very quickly, when President Obama said, "I don't see why we can't have a one-page, plain English consumer credit agreement." So, I locked myself in a room, figured out the content, organized the document, and wrote it in plain English. I've had this checked by the two top consumer credit lawyers in the country. This is a real thing. Now, I went one step further and said, "Why do we have to stick with the stodgy lawyers and just have a paper document? Let's go online."
Asadar, foarte pe scurt, cand presedintele Obama a spus “Nu vad de ce n-am putea avea un contract de credit pentru consum de o pagina intr-o engleza obisnuita”, m-am incuiat intr-o camera am descifrat continutul, am organizat documentul si apoi l-am scris intr-o engleza obisnuita. Am rugat doi vestiti avocati de credite de consum din tara sa verifice documentul. E un fapt real. Ei bine, am mers un pas mai departe si mi-am spus “De ce trebuie sa ne asezam langa avocati plicticosi numai pentru a obtine un document de hartie? Haideti sa o facem online."
And many people might need help in computation. Working with the Harvard Business School, you'll see this example when you talk about minimum payment: If you spent 62 dollars for a meal, the longer you take to pay out that loan, you see, over a period of time using the minimum payment it's 99 dollars and 17 cents. How about that? Do you think your bank is going to show that to people? But it's going to work. It's more effective than just computational aids. And what about terms like "over the limit"? Perhaps a stealth thing. Define it in context. Tell people what it means.
Si unele persoane s-ar putea sa aiba nevoie de ajutor la calcule. Lucrand cu oameni de la Scoala de Afaceri de la Harvard, veti intelege acest exemplu cand vom vorbi despre minimul de plata. Daca te imprumuti 62 de dolari pentru o masa, si te decizi sa rambursezi imprumutul folosind minimul de plata pe o perioada de timp, ajungi sa platesti intr-un final 99 de dolari si 17 centi. Ce ziceti? Credeti ca banca dvs. arata aceasta estimare clientilor? Insa functioneaza. E mai eficace decat calculatorul de buzunar. Si ce parere aveti de termeni cum ar fi “peste limita” ? Poate e vorba de ceva ascuns. Definiti-l in context. Spuneti clientilor ce inseamna.
When you put it in plain English, you almost force the institution to give the people a way, a default out of that, and not put themselves at risk. Plain English is about changing the content. And one of the things I'm most proud of is this agreement for IBM. It's a grid, it's a calendar. At such and such a date, IBM has responsibilities, you have responsibilities. Received very favorably by business.
Cand vorbesti intr-o engleza obisnuita aproape ca fortezi institutia sa le ofere oamenilor o cale, un procedeu standard prin care sa nu se expuna riscului. Engleza simpla se refera la schimbarea continutului. Iar unul din lucrurile de care sunt cel mai mandru este acest contract al companiei IBM. Este o grila, este un calendar. La data cutare si cutare, IBM are responsabilitati, tu ai responsabilitati. A fost primit foarte favorabil in mediul de afaceri.
And there is some good news to report today. Each year, one in 10 taxpayers receives a notice from the IRS. There are 200 million letters that go out. Running through this typical letter that they had, I ran it through my simplicity lab, it's pretty unintelligible. All the parts of the document in red are not intelligible. We looked at doing over 1,000 letters that cover 70 percent of their transactions in plain English. They have been tested in the laboratory. When I run it through my lab, this heat-mapping shows everything is intelligible. And the IRS has introduced the program.
Mai am si alte vesti bune de semnalat pentru azi. In fiecare an un contribuabil din 10 primeste o notificare de la fisc. Sunt 200 de milioane de scrisori care trebuie expediate. Parcurgand aceasta scrisoare standard a lor am supus-o procesului meu de simplificare, e aproape neinteligibila. Partile in rosu ale documentului sunt neinteligibile. Ne-am uitat la peste 1000 de scrisori - care acopera 70% din activitatea fiscului – si le-am scris intr-o engleza obisnuita. Au fost testate in laborator. Cand le-am citit in laboratorul meu, aceste zone fierbinti indica tot ceea ce este inteligibil. Si fiscul a introdus acest program.
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There are a couple of things going on right now that I want to bring to your attention. There is a lot of discussion now about a consumer financial protection agency, how to mandate simplicity. We see all this complexity. It's incumbent upon us, and this organization, I believe, to make clarity, transparency and empathy a national priority. There is no way that we should allow government to communicate the way they communicate. There is no way we should do business with companies that have agreements with stealth provisions and that are unintelligible.
Se petrec acum cateva lucruri asupra carora vreau sa va atrag atentia. Sunt foarte multe discutii in prezent despre o agentie de protectie financiara a consumatorului, si cum sa se introduca in mod obligatoriu simplificarea. Vedem cu totii aceasta complexitate. Este de datoria noastra si a acestei organizatii, cred, sa aducem in prim plan national claritatea, transparenta si empatia. In nici un caz nu ar trebui sa permitem guvernului sa mai comunice in maniera in care comunica acum. In nici un caz nu ar trebui sa facem afaceri cu companiile ale caror contracte au prevederi obscure si neinteligibile.
So, how are we going to change the world? Make clarity, transparency and simplicity a national priority. I thank you.
Cum vom face deci ca sa schimbam lumea? Facand o prioritate nationala din claritate, transparenta si simplitate. Va multumesc.
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