When facing a problem, we’re addicted to addition.
We add new processes at work. We add new features to products. We add more rules to keep schools, organisations, and societies in check.
But what about subtraction?
I recently came across this great piece of research where study participants were given a simple problem solving experiment: “In the below structure, a roof is supported by a pillar at one corner of a building. When a brick is placed on top, the roof will collapse onto the figurine. Researchers asked study participants to stabilise the structure so that it would support the brick above the figurine, and analysed the ways in which participants solved the problem.”
The study found that participants consistently consider additive solutions, when subtractive solutions are 1) available, and 2) are more efficient.
And it wasn’t because people didn’t see the value in subtractive solutions, it’s because they didn’t even consider them in the first place.
This has some profound lessons for our every-day decision making.
- When faced with a problem, before we add anything, we should remember to ask if we can subtract anything and achieve the same result.
- We’re not any less creative because we chose to subtract rather than add. If anything, I deeply respect when someone is able to simplify, because making things simple is complicated stuff.
- Finally, we have to fight against sunk cost bias. Just because we invested time in that process or feature in the past, it doesn’t mean it should still exist if there is a better, subtractive alternative.