In our busy evaluator lives, we are pressed for time and have limited resources to answer tough questions about the social interventions we evaluate. Keeping our heads above water often means simplifying complexity (e.g., limiting questions, reducing an intervention to its parts, prioritizing intended outcomes). In the last decade or so, there has been growing attention on systems thinking and complexity science in the evaluation community. This has led to a misconception that evaluators need to stop simplifying and instead embrace complexity and associated ideals of holism and inclusivity. Such ideals are not practically feasible, and miss the point – it’s about smarter simplifying not complexifying ad finite. Let’s consider what smarter simplifying might mean and how systems thinking can help us. Examples explored include making assumptions explicit, developing shared pictures, and considering what’s excluded.