There is no dearth of inconveniences over the course of our professional lives. What we do not always realize is that a huge proportion of these arise from our propensity to add rather than subtract. By way of illustration, when a university president solicited ideas for improvement from students, professors and administrative staff, only 11% of the proposals involved removing an element or discontinuing an activity. A striking figure, but a fairly universal one.

How can we fight this reflex? Urging everyone to show self-discipline proves exhausting and largely ineffective. The authors of this article instead recommend organizing sessions to suppress any unnecessary irritants. One criterion: telling yourself “good riddance”! This was the approach taken by the chief quality officer of Hawaii Pacific Health, a healthcare network. She asked the entire medical staff to point out what was ”ill-conceived, unnecessary or simply stupid”. As a result, 188 cuts were recommended and 87 implemented, providing clear gains in time and motivation for all concerned.

To your dustbins! …

Source: Rid Your Organization of Obstacles That Infuriate Everyone, Robert I. Sutton, Huggy Rao, Harvard Business Review, January-February 2024.