Addition by Subtraction

"Addition by Subtraction" is a phrase used by coaches to mean that sometimes your team can get better not by adding more talent, but by shedding some people or practices that are interfering with or inhibiting your success.

In his book “Atomic Habits” author  James Clear mentioned about  an article published in the New Yorker titled “Better All the Time,” where in James Suroweicki writes: “Japanese firms emphasized what came to be known as ‘lean production,’ relentlessly looking to remove waste of all kinds from the production process, down to redesigning workspaces, so workers didn’t have to waste time twisting and turning to reach their tools. The result was that Japanese factories were more efficient and Japanese products were more reliable than American ones. In 1974, service calls for American-made color televisions were five times as common as for Japanese televisions. By 1979, it took American workers three times as long to assemble their sets.”

This strategy can be stated as addition by subtraction. The Japanese companies looked for every point of friction in the manufacturing process and eliminated it. As they subtracted wasted effort, they added customers and revenue. Similarly, when we remove the points of friction that sap our time and energy, we can achieve more with less effort. “

On personal front one has  to identify those habits and shed those daily routines which spoil the health,wealth and peace of mind even if they are providing the pleasure and joy.

Some companies ,sport teams , organizations  have to adopt this strategy well before the game is over for them ,they have to shed those people (even if they are super stars) if they interfere with the success of a team , company or organization.

“1 Rule All Leaders Should Practice: Addition By Subtraction, As a manager, entrepreneur or CEO, you have to move bad people out. Only then can your company truly achieve growth and success. “ - By Tom Gimbel ,Founder and CEO, LaSalle Network. Read more @ -https://www.inc.com/tom-gimbel/1-rule-all-leaders-should-practice-addition-by-subtraction.html

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Extreme Ownership

Own everything in your world, and blame no one else....

Sent to the most violent battlefield in Iraq, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin’s SEAL task unit faced a seemingly impossible mission: help U.S. forces secure Ramadi, a city deemed “all but lost.” In gripping firsthand accounts of heroism, tragic loss, and hard-won victories in SEAL Team Three’s Task Unit Bruiser, they learned that leadership—at every level—is the most important factor in whether a team succeeds or fails. Task Unit Bruiser became the most highly-decorated special operations unit of the Iraq War.

Willink and Babin returned home from deployment and instituted SEAL leadership training that helped forge the next generation of SEAL leaders. After departing the SEAL Teams, they launched Echelon Front, a company that teaches these same leadership principles to businesses and organizations.

If there is anybody to learn leadership principles from, it would be these gentlemen.

 “For all the definitions, descriptions, and characterizations of leaders, there are only two that matter: effective and ineffective. Effective leaders lead successful teams that accomplish their mission and win. Ineffective leaders do not. And the only way to  become effective is to take…Extreme Ownership ”

The basic idea is that leaders are responsible for every thing that is in or somehow impacts their world. It’s easy to assign blame to outside circumstances or other people (subordinates, superiors, peers), but Extreme Ownership removes those excuses.

Source : “Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win ” by Jocko Willink

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