Episode #325
We default to adding due to cognitive, evolutionary, cultural, and economic biases, causing us to overlook subtraction as a viable improvement strategy.
Removing elements can unlock better solutions, as shown by balance bikes without pedals and a soccer team improving after practicing with fewer players.
Make subtraction habitual by setting reminders and using a stop-doing mindset in calendars, shopping, projects, and community decisions.
Perfection is not when there's nothing left to add, but rather when there's nothing left to take away.
We're systematically biased to think of adding and therefore overlook subtraction.
I just want you to consider it as an option.
University of Virginia professor and author of SUBTRACT: The Untapped Science of Less, Leidy Klotz, reveals how in this episode of the Success Through Failure podcast.
He talks about how we systematically overlook the concept of subtracting when trying to improve elements of life, work, and the world— as opposed to our default of fixing through adding.
SUBTRACT builds on Leidy’s pioneering behavioral research, pinpointing how and why we underutilize this fundamental approach to problem-solving and offering tools for readers to put the minus sign to use in their lives, both professional and private.
Leidy directs the University of Virginia’s Convergent Behavioral Science Initiative. His research on the science of problem-solving has appeared in both Nature and Science and has been covered in The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post among national newspapers on five continents.
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