It’s conventional wisdom that our core beliefs and values are innate, or at least so deeply ingrained as to be immutable. You know the old adage- “A leopard can’t change his spots. “
Well… I’ve long hewed to the mantra, coined by St.-Exupéry, “Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add but when there is nothing more to take away.” I’ve gotten a lot of push back on the futility of even attempting perfection, but I’ve been undeterred. I liked my mantra. But William of Ockham (of Razor fame) has changed my spotty mantra. “It is in vain to do with more, what can be done with less.” Don’t complicate things unnecessarily. Prune. Edit. Subtract.
Subtraction is the action that makes more of less. Often the best solution in engineering, architecture, cooking, writing, decorating, and dressing, is found by remembering - rather than +.
Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less explains why we too often ignore subtraction as a way to make things better. Whether building a silly matchbook bridge or a serious strategic plan, our minds default to more. and this blind spot can be costly. Subtraction is your secret weapon. Not perfect, but good enough.
Aside: The official hobby of collecting matchbooks is called phillumeny, a combination of the Greek phil (loving) and Latin lumen (light), and it's alive and well on Instagram. The hashtag #phillumenist has 12,755 followers. I’m a formerly closeted phillumenist but you’ll not see my collection on Instagram. I don’t expect that spot will change.