Stop it!
“You have to know when to stop - that’s wisdom.”
A long-time client of mine is an accomplished abstract artist.
She takes our video calls from her studio, where her latest work-in-progress hangs on the wall behind her. Eventually, the not-yet-done paintings disappear and make way for the next half-finished canvas to have its moment on the wall.
One time I asked her, “How do you know when a painting is done?”
She replied, “Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don’t.”
“What do you mean?” I responded.
“Well, sometimes I stare at a painting for so long that it becomes absolutely clear that another stroke would only detract from - and not add to - the painting.”
“And the other times?” I asked.
“I get impatient, add the next stroke without thinking, and ruin my weeks of hard work in one second.”
We often look at mastery as the accumulation of more. And yet, a huge part of mastery is about the ‘less’.
Masterful artistry is about knowing when to stop adding strokes of paint to the canvas before it becomes a jumbled mess of color.
Masterful communication is about knowing how to say those three sentences in a more effective three words.
And masterful leadership is about knowing which singular priority to steadfastly hone in on in a sea of seemingly important and urgent distractions.
Mastery is not only about knowing that sometimes less is more.
It’s also about being able to discern which ‘less’ creates the most ‘more’.
And ultimately, it’s about cultivating the discipline and self-control to stop at the perfect place of exactly enough.
Learn It
22-minute video
One of my favorite videos on the internet is this Ted Talk. In it, speaker and author Robert Holden discusses how the compulsive addition of more in our lives has led to us all being more unsatisfied.
Know It
1-day read
As its name suggests, the book ‘The ONE Thing’ by Gary Keller is a brief yet powerful book on prioritization, time management, and the impact that simplification can bring. If you are struggling with ‘more’ in your to-do list, meeting calendar, or workplace, I suggest giving it a read. And if you want a brief overview, check out this summary of the book.
Live It
7-step process
Difficult conversations are a place where maximizing minimalism can really support both the easy and effectiveness of the interaction. Here is a process around crafting difficult communications that employs the power of less and mitigates the complication of more.