Leidy Klotz

"… changes the world you live in, pulling back the curtain to reveal mysteries you didn't even know were there. This is a great book."―Sendhil Mullainathan, MacArthur fellow and author of Scarcity

“a captivating, perceptive read … you need to read this book.”―Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author

“the best book I’ve read this year.”―Bob Sutton, New York Times bestselling author

Overview

We pile on “to-dos” but don’t consider “stop-doings.” We create incentives for good behavior, but don’t get rid of obstacles to it. We collect new-and-improved ideas, but don’t prune the outdated ones. Every day, across challenges big and small, we neglect a basic way to make things better: we don’t subtract.

Leidy Klotz’s pioneering research shows why. Whether we’re building Lego models or cities, grilled-cheese sandwiches or strategic plans, our minds tend to add before taking away. Even when we do think of it, subtraction can be harder to pull off because an array of biological, cultural, and economic forces push us towards more. But we have a choice—our blind spot need not go on taking its toll on our cities, our institutions, and our minds. By diagnosing our neglect of subtraction, we can treat it.

Subtract will change how you change your world. In these pages you’ll meet subtracting exemplars: design geniuses, Nobel-prize winners, rock-stars, and everyday heroes, who have subtracted to dismantle racism, advance knowledge, heal the planet, and even tell better jokes. These and more guiding lights show how we can revolutionize not just our day-to-day lives, but our collective legacy. A paradigm shift of a book, Subtract shows us how to find more of the options we’ve been missing—and empowers us to pursue them.

Praise for Subtract

“Subtract is simply brilliant. With engaging and moving prose, Leidy Klotz travels back and forth between kids’ toys, evolution, Dr. Seuss, anthropology, racism, cognitive psychology, urban planning, global warming, and architecture to teach us that often, the best way to solve problems is by taking things away―by subtracting. To learn how to subtract, you must first add Subtract to your reading list.”―Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice and Why We Work

“Leidy Klotz leads the reader on an intellectual journey as he explores the fascinating question: In designing our world, why do we always seem to add rather than subtract? Subtract is a great blend of academic research, stories, and practical tools. Enjoy the journey!”―Dan Heath, co-author of Made to Stick and author of Upstream

“Behavioral science at its best helps people to improve their lives. It may help them think about old things in new ways or add new and better habits. In Subtract, Leidy Klotz shows us how deleting things from our lives can lead us to exciting new places.”―Carol Dweck, author of Mindset

“There could be no more important time to read this well-researched book, when so much needs subtracting: the prejudices, norms, and rules that perpetuate structural racism in our country; the mindless consumption that puts us on the hedonic treadmill and destroys biodiversity and a livable climate on our planet.”―Elke Weber, Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment, Princeton University

“This is a captivating, perceptive read on one of the most basic mistakes that we make in the pursuit of success and happiness. Combining his expertise in architectural engineering and behavioral science, Leidy Klotz pinpoints a gaping hole in our mental math: we’re constantly adding tasks, commitments, and possessions to our lives while neglecting to subtract any. If the defining word of your life is ‘more,’ you need to read this book.”—Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and Originals, and host of the TED podcast WorkLife

“Leidy Klotz gracefully communicates complex ideas. His engaging style and breadth of examples guides the reader through an important new view of thinking by removing. I for one am glad that I added this to my reading!”—Eric J. Johnson, Norman Eig Professor of Business, Director, Center for the Decision Sciences, Columbia Business School, author of The Elements of Choice

"The heart of Leidy Klotz's SUBTRACT is a brilliant catch-all philosophy for living well: humans are predisposed to add―money, ideas, inventions, possessions, complexity―but the route to well-being is to take away. Subtraction doesn’t require you to be rich, or to have superhuman self-control, or plenty of free time. All you need is the right attitude, and a toolbox that will help you learn you to subtract effectively. SUBTRACT is that toolbox."—Adam Alter, New York Times bestselling author of Irresistible and Drunk Tank Pink

The Science

Subtract distills wisdom from hundreds of scientific articles, including Leidy Klotz’s co-authored cover article in Nature.