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Backstory
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You can call me Matt.
I spent 8 years as an independent advisor to the U.S. corporate headquarters of Toyota. It changed my outlook on life. I learned how to learn, and I learned to "think lean". I took those lessons on the road to other organizations. Now I write books and articles, speak, teach and 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?
There's an art to removing just the right things, in just the right way, to achieve greater impact in business, work, and life.
Lao Tzu said: "To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, subtract things every day."
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 52 of the most brilliant people I know to contribute. 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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- Love this Wordpress theme. Elegant. Awesome "skeleton" approach. My new site redesign choice. http://t.co/t7Llg7z6 via @dhgtweeted10 hours ago
- The Greatest Day Of Your Life via Matthew E. May - As CEO of the Strategic Thinking Institute, Rich Horwath ... http://t.co/Azq8Gp7atweeted11 hours ago
- Addition By Subtraction via Matthew E. May - The meme of subtraction is growing, the drumbeat ... http://t.co/PB6ojSfltweeted1 day ago
- It's getting louder: addition by subtraction. http://t.co/OE7unawktweeted1 day ago
- Are you a cow or buffalo? http://t.co/3eXb9RpMtweeted1 day ago
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Archives
Author Archives: mm
The Greatest Day Of Your Life
As CEO of the Strategic Thinking Institute, Rich Horwath has spent the past 20 years helping world class companies identify their business goals and develop strategies for achieving them. From Pfizer, to Kraft and Motorola, Horwath has helped his clients … Continue reading
Addition By Subtraction
The meme of subtraction is growing, the drumbeat louder. “News Corp. Without Newspapers Would Be Addition By Subtraction” reads the headline of Jeff Bercovici’s column on Forbes.com last week. “Everything I did was subtraction,” states TED founder Richard Saul Wurman … Continue reading
Take The Stairs
Rory Vaden observed something peculiar growing up in Colorado, one of the few places in the world that has both cows and buffalo. When storms came, they would form in the mountains of the West, and then migrate out to … Continue reading
The Subtractive Art of “The Artist”
Last night my wife and I watched The Artist, up for 10 (!) Academy Awards. I’d been wanting to see it for months, simply because it looked to be a study in subtraction: black and white, and silent (except, of … Continue reading
Artistry At Work: Form Following Function
Today, each artist must undertake to invent himself, a lifelong act of creation that constitutes the essential content of the artist’s work. The meaning of art in our time flows from this function of self-creation. Art is the laboratory for … Continue reading
Who Really Calls The Shots In Your Company?
Perhaps this has happened to you: you get informed that your company is now going to take a left turn, when last you heard it was going to take a right. You ask around, “When did that happen?” You get … Continue reading
Great Leaders GROW
Ken Blanchard is one of the original business gurus, and the inventor of the modern business fable, so it’s my pleasure to review his recent offering. Ken rose to guru status with The One Minute Manager, which started out as … Continue reading
Artistry at Work: New School Rules
I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world. – Albert Einstein Business artistry is much more than simply becoming technically proficient at something. We … Continue reading
The Wrong Way To Market Social Media
Entrepreneur Kevin Ready tells a sadly humorous social media story in his book StartUp: An Insider’s Guide to Launching and Running a Business.The airport parking company that he uses has a shuttle bus that runs from the lot to the … Continue reading
Visual Communication
I’m lucky. Scott McCloud is a neighbor. Not next door, mind you, but same town. In fact, we used to have offices in the same building. Don’t know who Scott McCloud is? He’s a cartoonist of Zot! fame, and a … Continue reading
