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Backstory
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You can call me Matt. I'm a blogger for the American Express OPEN Forum Ideas Hub, which I reprint here. I've written three books, with the fourth, The Laws of Subtraction, coming out in a few months. I run a small ideas agency called Edit Creativ (formerly Shibumi Creative Works...practicing subtraction...and no, it isn't a typo in the name).
I spent 8 years as an independent advisor to the U.S. corporate headquarters of Toyota. It changed my outlook on work and life. I learned how to learn and solve problems. I learned to "think lean". I learned the power of less. I took those lessons on the road to other organizations. Now I write, speak, coach others on creativity, innovation, and design strategy.
You can read more on my About page, or connect with me on my Contact page.
Why Subtraction?
Lao Tzu said: "To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, subtract things every day."
When you remove just the right thing in just the right way, something good happens.
That's my go-to philosophy, and this blog is dedicated to sharing it along with all the amazing things that amazing people are doing to improve the world by waging "war on more" through subtracting from our collective experience anything obviously excessive, wasteful, complicated, unnatural, hazardous, hard to use, or ugly. Or better yet, refraining from adding those things in the first place!
I've just finished a new book entitled The Laws of Subtraction, which are these 6 simple rules for winning in the age of excess everything:
#1: What isn’t there can often trump what is.
#2: The simplest rules create the most effective experience.
#3: Limiting information engages the imagination.
#4: Creativity thrives under intelligent constraints.
#5: "Break" is an important part of any breakthrough.
#6: Doing something isn’t always better than doing nothing.The book will be out October 26, 2012. I've asked some of the most brilliant people I know to contribute short insights on these laws. Almost everyone said yes...54 to be exact. You'll be amazed and inspired by their stories of how subtraction has played a role in their work and life.
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Monthly Archives: March 2011
There’s No Such Thing as an Empty Day
Don’t discard seemingly empty days. Treasure them, collect, store them, because they really aren’t. (empty, that is!)
The Steve Jobs Way
This review was originally posted HERE on Amex OPEN Forum Idea Hub. What is it about Steve Jobs and his company, Apple Computer, that we find so compelling, so fascinating, so central to the lore of business management? The Steve … Continue reading
10 Ways to Become a More Socially Responsible Business
This column was originally posted HERE on Amex OPEN Forum Idea Hub. There is growing appreciation for the idea that responsibility is core to a good business. But there are many old mindsets and practices that make it hard to … Continue reading
The Entrepreneur Equation
I originally posted this review HERE on OPEN Forum Idea Hub. I can count on one finger the number of times I’ve received a review copy of a new book accompanied by a Barbie-like doll fashioned in the likeness of … Continue reading
Surviving Your Serengeti
This interview was originally published HERE on Amex OPEN Forum Idea Hub. I am an “Enterprising Crocodile.” At least according to the short quiz set up by Stefan Swanepoel, author the new business fable Surviving Your Serengeti: 7 Skills to … Continue reading
