Imagining ways to introduce change is an essential skill no matter one’s occupation, role, or rank. To distinguish an app, a designer envisions a unique new feature. To enhance workplace culture, a manager considers new training modules or incentives. To increase corporate social responsibility, an advisory board identifies green-energy investment opportunities.
When Subtraction Adds Value
Imagining ways to introduce change is an essential skill no matter one’s occupation, role, or rank. Across a series of experiments, the authors found that people systematically overlook subtractive changes, instead following their instincts to add. There is nothing inherently wrong with adding. But if it becomes a business’s default path to improvement, that business may be failing to consider a whole class of other opportunities. With subtraction in mind, a designer might rid the app of unnecessary features, a manager might remove barriers to a more inclusive culture, and an advisory board member might suggest divesting from fossil fuels. The good news is that an understanding of the psychology behind subtraction neglect reveals some ways to avoid it.