Improving by Removing

Creativity needs air. And creativity doesn’t just apply to art – everything we do at our jobs has some degree of creativity involved. It’s hard to let that flow if you’re overwhelmed or burnt out. 

The good news: You can improve work culture by removing instead of adding. 

Why:

• Less is More – Cliched, but true. Don’t overwhelm yourself or your team when there are simpler ways to achieve a goal. 

• Negativity Bias – Instead of adding more positive things to an already-busy team, try removing the things they hate instead. In other words, remove trash instead of adding presents. 

• Look Inwards – It’s easy to build systems that push people to work harder and remember all the things. What can you take out so that the system compliments human nature instead of working against it?  

• Find Clarity – Avoiding clutter doesn’t mean you don’t have a personality as a team - the mindset of decluttering leads to the clarity your team needs.

How:

• Anti-Goals – An anti-goal can give a clearer idea of scope. For example, we want to grow revenue by 5x. What that doesn’t look like is to be concentrated in only 2 accounts. What it doesn’t feel like is that our team is overextended and burning out. What it doesn’t include is cutting corners on our process. 

• Structure for Flow – It’s easy to be busy, not productive. One way to structure flow is to block off uninterrupted time when you have the most energy. 

• Exchange/Change Events – Let recurring meetings die. It will help you prioritize and identify what really needs to be on the calendar. 

• Embrace Asynchronous Communication –  Figure out a communication pattern that works for you and your team. 

• Delegation – For high-performing contributors, it can be scary to learn to delegate. If you think you can’t, change your perspective: your leadership teaches your team how to replace you. 

• Create a Tactical Plan – Ask yourself how you want your trajectory to feel, and what you could get rid of in order to get there. How can you make it hard to fail at getting there?

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