Strategic Subtraction

How Subtraction Sparks Innovation

Breaking through to a better idea by subtraction, rather than addition, is the most satisfying kind of breakthrough.

- Jason Fried

It was nine o’clock, and I’d been working on this problem for weeks.  

My team was struggling, looking for an answer from me. The company put me in charge of solving it.

I had nothing. 

We had over 900 open requests, and more were added daily. Some tickets were months old. I needed to fix this.

These requests were causing delays in clients going live and launching programs. Clients were starting to look for other solutions. 

We had been adding new processes and hired 3 new team members, but we weren’t making a dent. 

I needed to try something different. I needed to look at the problem from a different angle. 

The Algorithm

I recently read the Walter Isaacson biography of Elon Musk. Whatever people might think of Musk, he is one of the best operators and operation minds the world has ever seen. In it, Isaacson describes a Mental Model that Musk uses to improve operations and get past bottlenecks. 

It’s called … The Algorithm. In sequential order, it says:

1. Question every requirement. Every requirement should have a name of who made it and why. Question it no matter what to make it less dumb.

2. Delete any part of the process you can. You didn't cut enough if you don’t add back in 10% of what you deleted. 

3. Simplify and optimize. Only after you delete the non-essential.

4. Accelerate cycle time. Every process can speed up. 

5. Automate. The last piece is to automate. 

When looking at a problem, analyze every part before doing anything. Then, remove any aspect that is not needed. Simplify and optimize anything that is left. 

Instead of adding, the path to clarity is subtracting. Focus on the essentials. 

When confusion arises, we feel the urge to add. Often, the best approach is to remove. 

Addition by Subtraction

While I didn’t know the algorithm then, I began to look at the process in detail with my team. 

It took two days, but we removed several processes and optimized our workflow. We cut about 10% of our steps and simplified many others. 

Then something amazing happened … the number stopped growing. A week later, it started to go down. 

While slow at first, we began to build momentum. The more it went down, the faster we got through the backlog. 

About 6 months later, something amazing happened. 

Inbox zero. 

We had no open requests in our queue. All while getting more requests than before. 

What some people thought was impossible we made possible.

The team had addressed the backlog. They could now work on other projects to advance the organization. 

Genius in Simplicity

This has been a lesson I’ve taken in every aspect of my life. When in doubt, simplify. 

The more you simplify, the better you perform. The better teams perform. 

A process with more components has more chances for inefficiencies. It has more chances to break down. 

If you are struggling with something in your life, ask yourself if you are focusing on too many things. The answer is often yes. 

It’s not always a lack of habits that is holding you back but a lack of focus on the right ones.

People who see complicated solutions are not incentivized to implement simplified ones. 

In my experience, people add processes to keep their jobs or to feel important. Making things more complicated than necessary is the mark of a charlatan. 

I’ve watched athletes focus on optimizing twenty different things. But, they neglect the most crucial: food, sleep, and recovery.

To make progress, follow the algorithm. Focus on doing the important things well.

Be ruthless about cutting out anything non-essential. You can delete more than you think.

Things don’t get accomplished by doing more. It is by doing the essential things the best. 

Genius comes from simplicity.