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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
Category Archives: Strategy
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
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
Uncommon Service
It should come as no surprise that the primary driver of our economy is no longer what we make but how we serve each other. Eighty percent of jobs in the U.S. and 80 percent of the gross national product … Continue reading
How To Disagree At Meetings in a Positive and Productive Way
How many times have you sat in a meeting thinking, “This is all wrong.”? How many times have you disagreed with something, but not spoken up, for fear of making waves, rocking the boat, holding things up, or being viewed … Continue reading
The Synergist
Your project is gridlocked. Your team is dysfunctional. The goals aren’t clear. There’s rampant “mission drift.” Your team leader keeps changing direction. You can’t figure out what completion, much less success, even looks like. There’s no coordination, no communication, no … Continue reading
Grow
“Maximum growth and high ideals are not incompatible,” begins Jim Stengel, in his new book Grow: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World’s Greatest Companies. “They’re inseparable.” Stengel should know. Not only was he Proctor & Gamble’s global … Continue reading
6 Important Marketing Trends To Watch In 2012
Every year around this time, we shift our focus from “the year in review” to “the year ahead.” Trend reports abound, and with a bit of searching you can usually find one targeted to whatever your specific business niche might … Continue reading
Great By Choice
Jim Collins, writing with his research associate Morten Hansen, has written a new book called Great By Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck–Why Some Thrive Despite Them All. And it’s, well, great. And by choice, I might add. You see, I … Continue reading
Solving Healthcare Through Subtraction & Simplicity
Too often we overlook the power of small business solve the world’s most wicked problems. We’re starting realize that the solution to our unemployment challenge lies not with the Fortune 500, but with small businesses and startups. In honor of … Continue reading
Reflection Week: Day 2
Day 1 was a hansei (Japanese for “reflection, introspection) on Commitment. Day 2 is a reflection on Preparation.
