Do Less

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: This episode argues that humans have a strong bias toward adding rather than subtracting when solving problems, even when removal would be more effective. Through examples from engineering, architecture, medicine, policy, travel, writing, and music, Leidy Klotz shows that subtraction is often overlooked because it is less visible, less rewarded, and mentally harder to consider.

Main Topics: The human bias toward addition (Priority: 5/5): The episode opens with brainstorming and everyday problem-solving to show that people instinctively generate more ideas, projects, and features, while neglecting simpler solutions that involve taking things away. Klotz’s personal discovery of subtraction (Priority: 5/5): Klotz describes how simplifying his engineering study strategy and later watching his son remove a block from a Lego bridge revealed the power of reducing rather than adding. Why subtraction is neglected (Priority: 5/5): The discussion explains barriers such as economics, culture, politics, effort, and visibility: additions are rewarded and easy to display, while subtractions disappear and are harder to justify. Experiments revealing subtraction neglect (Priority: 4/5): Klotz summarizes studies showing people tend to add in travel planning, writing, recipes, and music-editing tasks even when subtraction would improve the result. Systems and crises that enable subtraction (Priority: 4/5): Examples like the Embarcadero Freeway, the COVID-19 pandemic, and infrastructure change show that external shocks can make subtraction politically and socially possible. Designing incentives for less (Priority: 4/5): The conversation highlights tools such as stop-doing lists, subtractive policy rules, and reframing losses as gains to help individuals and institutions choose less when appropriate. Subtraction in science, medicine, and art (Priority: 3/5): The episode ends with examples from hollow building blocks, Nike Air shoes, medical checklists, Marie Kondo, and Bruce Springsteen to show subtraction as a creative and practical principle.

Key Arguments: Humans systematically default to addition because added things are visible, rewarded, and easier to explain than removed things. Subtraction can produce better, cheaper, safer, and more elegant outcomes in design, medicine, and policy. People often fail to notice subtraction because what gets removed disappears from view, reducing the evidence that a change was made. External shocks or constraints can create openings for subtraction that voluntary decision-making rarely does. Simple prompts and institutional rules, such as stop-doing lists or requiring the removal of old laws when adding new ones, can counteract subtraction neglect. Experts in many fields have long valued reduction, but their advice is notable precisely because it runs against common intuition. A mindset shift from “what can I add?” to “what can I remove?” can improve decision-making across personal and organizational contexts.

Data Points: Engineering course grade: C average before the final exam; 98 on the exam after simplifying study approach - Klotz’s personal story about learning mechanics by focusing on core concepts Architecture competition participation: A couple of dozen students - Students who joined Klotz’s “addition by subtraction” renovation contest University strategic planning ideas: 750 ideas; fewer than 10% suggested subtracting something - Analysis of suggestions submitted to the University of Virginia Travel-planning experiment: Only 1 in 4 participants removed activities - Participants modifying an overpacked 14-hour Washington, D.C. itinerary Writing experiment: 17% subtracted words - Participants asked to improve a summary of an article Recipe experiment: 2 out of 90 participants subtracted - Participants improving a five-ingredient recipe Medicine mortality: About 30,000 deaths each year in the United States - Catheter infections targeted by Peter Pronovost’s checklist approach Embarcadero Freeway length: More than a mile - San Francisco elevated highway removed after the earthquake and civic debate Loma Prieta earthquake deaths: More than 60 deaths; thousands injured - Crisis that changed public attitudes toward removing the freeway Home renovation result: Five-room, two-story, 900-square-foot addition - Klotz’s own project that expanded despite being designed around subtraction

Pivotal Quotes: "We just need to brainstorm five ideas. But to be safe, let's come up with 50. Let's make it 100." — Shankar Vedantam: Opening example illustrating how brainstorming culture favors addition "It's in vain to do with more what can be done with less." — Attributed to William of Ockham: Cited as part of the long tradition of valuing subtraction "It's almost entirely eradicated catheter infections, and it saved thousands of lives." — Leidy Klotz: Describing the impact of a simple subtractive medical checklist

Implications: The episode suggests that better innovation may require deliberate tools to make subtraction visible and rewarded. For leaders, designers, and individuals, pruning can improve efficiency, safety, and clarity if institutions actively counter the default to add.