The Laws of Subtraction Videos

Matt May, former advisor of Toyota and creative thinking expert, is currently writing his fourth book, The Laws of Subtraction, covering subjects related to Creativity, Innovation and Design Strategy.

Matt recently spoke in a venue in California, and shared his 6 basic laws of subtraction.   Each video is less than 5 minutes, and the whole series covers topics from the David Chase's famous ending of the Sopranos, the Mona Lisa, creativity and resource constraints, among others.

Law #1  - What isn't there can often trump what is.  
Law #2  - The simplest rules create the most effective experience.

Law #3 - Limiting information engages the imagination.

Law #4 - Creativity thrives under intelligent constraints.

Law #5 - Break" is an important part of any breakthrough.
Law #6 - Doing something isn't always better than doing nothing. 

The challenge is to always think how to solve problems in a simple and effective way.   As Einstein used to say:

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction."

The Effect Of Abstract And Specific On Change

Part of being an effective manager is having the capability to motivate and persuade the people you lead in a desired direction.  For someone to change, both the why change and the how to change are necessary.   Many other elements are important in a change process, but for the moment lets ask:  when should managers discloses the Why and when the How?

Bob Sutton recently shared the results of a study that show how vague versus specific messages affect credibility.  Using presidential candidates, the study showed that if elections were several months away, candidates that spoke in vague terms where the most liked by potential voters.   But if elections were very close, candidates that spoke in specific terms were the most liked.   For the brain context is essential, something my colleague Jack Vinson constantly reminds me of.

The study got me thinking about when you should speak in vague versus concrete terms.  Perhaps when in the initial steps of a change initiative, it is better to speak in broader terms, as this might help you create a shared Urgency of Change, as Kotter's work suggests.   In later phases, when a shared vision is in place, specific terms might work best.

How do you convey the Why and How in your organization?  Do you always share them with the people you lead?

The Legal Rebel Videos - PointOneLaw Venue

For all of us who like Matt Hoffman's, also known as The Legal Rebel, the PointOneLaw videos have been published for everyone to view.

PointOneLaw is an interesting venue created by Matt, where lawyers from different origins and backgrounds present new ideas that are relevant to the legal profession.   For this year, 12 lawyers spoke from topics ranging from Social Networks and the Legal Business, Flash Mob Law and How to Reinvent Customer Services.  Each speaker has a limit of 6 minutes and 20 slides, so presentations are on point.

In a world were lawsuits are common, and are significantly hindering the ability of many organizations such as health, education, and others to provide quality services at a low cost, the ideas from these venue are refreshing.   Matt and his colleagues think out of the box, looking for real win-win between all parties involved.

Although PointOneLaw is mainly for the the legal profession, there are many useful nuggets for business managers

Stand Up Gamblers

Last week I blogged about how to run meetings more effectively, including the famous "stand up meeting", where people have to stand up during the whole meetings because chairs have been removed.  The lack of chairs causes attendees to quickly focus on the topics on hand and make decisions as quick as possible.   In short, the environment has been set up to improve effectiveness.

Behavioral economists have shown that people make mistakes in their decision making, specially when deciding on complex issues, where feedback is slow or lacking.   In these cases, it makes sense to "nudge" people in the right direction, so both the person and society gain from improved decision making.

A recent Freakonomics article talked about how an organization in Australia is thinking about tackling the problem of gambling, using an adequate environment and nudges.   Basically, their suggestion is to remove chairs in casinos, so gamblers have no choice than to go and rest in a different area, other than the black jack table, when getting tired.    How would this change in the environment impact a gambler's behavior?

Are you considering your company's environment?   Is it adequate for your company's purposes?

How Much Time Do You Waste At Work?

My colleague Jack Vinson recently shared an infographic about how people waste time in their workplace.

Although waste needs to be defined more precisely to get the infographic into context, there are several assumptions being made that are not necessarily correct:

• Every contribution made by an employee contributes equally to the bottom line
• All employees are paid on an hourly basis
• The busier someone is with work related activities, the more productive that person is

The first and second assumption imply that local efficiencies sum up to global efficiencies, someone that we know is incorrect.   And how are most employees hired, on a contract base or a salary base?

Related to the third assumption, test have shown that people actually have improved cognitive ability when they take small breaks, because the mind can rest to go back into full active mode.  And if people are achieving their   objectives, does it matter if they are taking small leisure breaks?

Instead of focusing on why people are wasting time, a manager should work on building a company culture that is interesting, engaging, and where employees ideas and input are actually used to improve processes.    Would you really worry about time spent when the company improved on a daily basis by its employees?

So how much time are your employees wasting?   Is this even the right question to ask?

Do You Give a Damn?

Bassam Tarasi, from Colipera, says it best:  Give a Damn.

Standard, averages, status quo is now way to delight others and to have a meaningful life.

Find out what you want to be the most of, work relentlessly, don't expect to please everybody, and results will come.

Nobody said it would be easy...

The Power of X

Have you seen the Power of X?

Amazing what people can do, when they include scarcity in their daily life equation.