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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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Category Archives: Creativity
Artistry At Work: My 2012 Resolution
I have used the term “business artist” before (Are You A Business Artist?). Interestingly, the term is used by Jim Stengel in his new book Grow, which I reviewed here. It made me think, or, more accurately, rethink, and think … Continue reading
Bring Your Ideas To Life In 2012
For as long as I can remember, I have been drawn to, consumed by, even obsessed with, ideas. I’m a meta-idea person, meaning I like to spend a lot of time thinking about the idea of ideas. I’m often accused … Continue reading
3 Blogs To Follow
I don’t list a blogroll on my blogsite, for the simple reason that I follow so many that the list would dominate the right hand column of my page. My RSS reader (Google Reader) delivers a few hundred articles and … Continue reading
Thinking, Fast And Slow
Psychologist and 2002 Nobel winner Daniel Kahneman has published a book on human rationality and decision-making that reminds me of another book by another Nobel winner, Herbert Simon, who won the prize in 1978. Kahneman’s book is called Thinking, Fast … Continue reading
Creative Inspiration On Wallpapers For Your iPhone
I love when something new and inspiring comes my way. I have an open order with the universe for just that, and every once in a while the order is filled. Example: when Tanner Christensen sent me an email out … Continue reading
