Everything is simple unless you make it difficult

Trite yes, but true nevertheless.

This phrase sprang to mind recently when I wrote some copy for a client who then gave me a brief AFTER the first draft.

It was my fault, I should have made sure I knew exactly what the client wanted - I thought I did but I didn't.

It all ended amicably but time could have been saved by a few simple measures. I had made things unnecessarily difficult.