The Laws of Subtraction: 6 Simple Rules for Winning in the Age of Excess EverythingWinner of a 2013 Small Business Book Award for Economics The world is more overwhelming than ever before. Our work is deeper and more demanding than ever. Our businesses are more complicated and difficult to manage than ever. Our economy is more uncertain than ever. Our resources are scarcer than ever. There is endless choice and feature overkill in all but the best experiences. Everybody knows everything about us. The simple life is a thing of the past. Everywhere, there's too much of the wrong stuff and not enough of the right. The noise is deafening, the signal weak. Everything is too complicated and time-sucking. Welcome to the age of excess everything. Success in this new age looks different and demands a new skill: Subtraction. Subtraction is defined simply as the art of removing anything excessive, confusing, wasteful, unnatural, hazardous, hard to use, or ugly . . . or the discipline to refrain from adding it in the first place. And if subtraction is the new skill to be acquired, we need a guide to developing it. Enter The Laws of Subtraction. Through a dozen of the most compelling stories of breakthrough innovation culled from 2,000 cases and bolstered by uniquely personal essays contributed by over 50 of the most creative minds in business today, The Laws of Subtraction outlines six simple rules for winning in the age of excess everything, and delivers a single yet powerful idea: When you remove just the right things in just the right way, something very good happens. The Laws of Subtraction features contributions by over 50 highly regarded thinkers, creatives, and executives. On Law #1: What Isn't There Can Often Trump What Is On Law #2: The Simplest Rules Create the Most Effective Experience On Law #3: Limiting Information Engages the Imagination On Law #4: Creativity Thrives Under Intelligent Constraints On Law #5: Break Is the Important Part of Breakthrough On Law #6: Doing Something Isn't Always Better Than Doing Nothing |
Contents
1 | |
Law No 2 The Simplest Rules Create the Most Effective Experience | 31 |
Law No 3 Limiting Information Engages the Imagination | 67 |
Law No 4 Creativity Thrives Under Intelligent Constraints | 109 |
Law No 5 Break is the Important Part of Breakthrough | 143 |
Law No 6 Doing Something Isnt always Better than Doing Nothing | 177 |
Coda | 211 |
Notes Sources and Further Readings | 215 |
Index | 217 |