Making My Peace … with less, more, and more or less
Less is more, says the adage, more or less. What does this mean?
“Less is more” is a proverb and a principle that means that fewer things or fewer actions are better and more effective, and less complicated, than having a greater number of things or actions.
People often use the phrase “less is more” in terms of fashion or beauty or art or dance or anything creative. For example, fashionistas maintain that clean lines and shapes define style more effectively than too many colours, frills, and flounces. The bottom line is that the key to success is …
The bottom line is that the key to success is simplicity.
It indicates that having the essential items is better than have too much or too many superfluous things. Effectively, it means to keep things – life, if you will – simple, uncomplicated, and with less greed or need.
The phrase also translates well to business. In business, people tend to add committees rather than reducing the number committees. Usually, once a committee is established, it is rarely disbanded. To explain or define the pathways to success, people tend to add more processes and procedures, rather than paring things back to essentials. Most successful people cut to the chase, take the straight line, shrug off distractions, and take less time to get more done. The strategies and tactics make interesting reading.
The phrase “less is more” also translates well to life. Researchers have shown that people tend to add things to their lives when dealing with challenges – often for comfort and not need. For some people, removing things – e.g. decluttering – is liberating. More often than not though, researchers say that people hold onto stuff rather than letting go.
But in business and life, it is not always easy to apply principles. For example, the more people involved, the longer it takes to reach a consensus. That’s why decision-making groups in business are more effective if they have less than eight people, and not more. Unless the business is conducting market research or a general survey. But, in life, especially in celebrations, people say “the more the merrier.”
So, when is less actually better than more, and when is more actually better than less? It’s all moot and debatable, and open to discussion, more or less.
And what does more or less mean?
“More or less” indicates so-so, here and there, this and that, and all those phrases that are imprecise, approximate, indeterminate, and uncertain.
Making my peace with less, more, and more or less, I learned the following:
- To ask if I have all I need, more or less, to make a decision
- To ask if there is anything I need to remove
- To ask if there is anything I need to add
- To ask if the need is really a need or whether it is actually a want
- To not over-think or under-think but just think enough, more or less
- To determine whether more or less is specific enough or whether I need to be more definitive
- And do I need a committee for that?
Martina Nicolls: Rainy Day Healing – MAKING MY PEACE
Leave a Reply