A few months ago, I ran a Subtraction Method workshop for NYT bestseller Anne-Laure Le Cunff’s online community.

During the workshop, I spoke about the idea that more effort = better results.

This is the ethos which many a boardroom swears by. But in my experience, “success by addition” isn’t just faulty but also a brilliant way to end up running on fumes with nothing to show for it.

If adding more was the answer, the people going at it hammer and tongs would be the happiest. But it usually doesn’t pan out that way.

Hence the idea I put forward in the workshop:

To find happiness, success and fulfilment, don’t add.

Subtract.

My workshop came to mind a few weeks ago as I flicked through an article buried in the coursework for a 15 month executive coaching apprenticeship I’m dutifully working my way through.

The article featured author and coach Tim Gallwey.

Tim’s most famous for his “Inner Game” series of books. But he didn’t start out as the big-name figure he is today. He started out coaching tennis. And he was standing on the court one day when he noticed something strange:

His student’s tennis game was getting better even though Tim hadn’t started coaching yet!

As the lesson went on, Tim noticed that whenever he doled out advice about where to stand or how to grip the racket, his student started overthinking and playing worse. But when Tim stopped trying to help, the faster and more naturally his student made progress.

That’s the insight Tim’s “Inner Game” book series is built around. 

It’s the idea that the role of a coach isn’t to pour knowledge down a coachee’s throat but to remove what gets in the way so the coachee’s natural ability, clarity and confidence can shine through. 

It’s also the insight which underpins Tim’s famous formula that Performance = Potential – Interference

i.e. that the game of life is a game of subtraction, not addition.

I mentioned earlier that I read about this in an article from my apprenticeship.

I’m supposed to be carving out 6 hours a week from my day job to study for this apprenticeship. Yet for the last three weeks I’ve racked up the grand total of diddly squat.

By Subtraction Method standards, I guess that means I’m three weeks ahead of where I should be.

Whatever the case, if you’d like to read about Tim’s counterintuitive idea that the more we add, the more we get in our own way, you can check out the very same article here:

https://researchportal.coachingfederation.org/Document/Pdf/2965.pdf

To fulfilment,

Tom