People talk about how accomplished people make hard things look easy. But there’s a certain kind of elegant solution, one where it makes easy things seem hard.

Magicians are an example of this. They use loads of indirection, extra props, fancy language, making it seem like an illusion is quite complicated to pull off, when in fact the underlying secret is usually quite simple and even disappointingly boring.

High-wire artists use long poles for added balance when up on the tight rope. To an audience, this looks much harder than when a guy just walks across a rope. “Not only can he walk across the rope, but he’s now going to do it carrying that giant awkward metal pole!” But it’s actually much easier than running around barefoot on a wire 30 feet about the hard deck below.

So don’t forget when you’re making the hard things look easy. Maybe your audience would be better off seeing the easy things look hard.