Growth by Subtraction

Technology can be powerful, and I believe in the minimum effective use of technology for the maximum benefit to all. However product team capacity can be maxed out perpetually adding features at the expense of refining what exists or learning what else could be more worthwhile.

Browse John Cutler's Subtractive and Additive Change list of why removing things doesn't happen very often and see if they sound familiar. I remember the first time a teammate shared nocode with me. I wasn't yet experienced enough in my career to fully appreciate just how strong additive incentives are, and had yet to feel just how much drag and gravitational warping of everyone's spacetime they create as they accumulate.

By now I've been a part of many team discussions where the conversation begins to spiral into ever increasing gymnastics, troubleshooting, and complex workarounds with the singular goal of figuring out how to add something new to existing functionality. My curiosity spikes when conversations start to get pulled towards this singularity, and I can't tell you how many times I've offered the reminder that our possibility space includes doing nothing or even removing something, and the collective mood immediately transforms from anxious constriction to relaxed expansiveness. Usually the discussion swiftly concludes with agreement that the most valuable action is either to leave it alone for now, or to make a change that is not strictly additive and now feels obvious. People walk away with significantly more time and energy to spend in more important ways.

If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.

Subtractive change can fuel a positive feedback cycle of freeing up more and more bandwidth and oxygen to act with purpose.

At a macro scale, products with incredible capabilities have been created but over-applied to our already overflowing lives, with inhumane consequences for our collective health and sense of the world. Many organizations of advanced size continuously and collectively pursue growth strategies despite the planetary impossibility of growth economies.

I'm interested in technology products that are just enough. What else does that free up? For you, and for us.