I have an original piece of artwork displayed in my office from a friend of mine who is an artist. It is titled “Less is More.” My friend was visiting once during my kids’ elementary school fundraiser which included ‘spin art.’ If you have ever done spin art, it is cool to see what is produced by globs of paint on a board rotated at high speeds. By ‘globs of paint’ I meant how I was trying to make art. My artist friend showed me the effectiveness of less paint. Thus, his framed spin art hangs as a reminder of that mantra.
The phrase is often associated with the architect and furniture designer Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe (1886-1969). He was one of the founders of modern architecture and a proponent of simplicity in style. His notion was that simplicity and clarity lead to good design.
“Less is More” was first found in print in a 19th century poem by Robert Browning:
Who strive – you don’t know how the others strive,
To paint a little thing like that you smeared
Carelessly passing with your robes afloat-
Yet do much less, so much less, someone says,
(I know his name, no matter) – so much less!
Well, less is more, Lucrezia.
“Less is more” has so many applications, from sports and business, to family and life, and faith.
“Less is more,” even in teamwork. The earliest known attempt to investigate the relationship between team size and
productivity dates back about a hundred years to experiments by French engineer, Maximilien Ringelmann, what is now known as the Ringelmann Effect. He found that people’s efforts quickly diminish as team size increases and he rationalized the decay was due to lack of a coordinated effort. In the 1970s Alan Ingham and three colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst decided to recreate the experiment with a clever variation —some students were asked to merely pretend they were doing the work. Their results showed that It didn’t seem to matter whether people were part of a larger team or simply thought they were part of a larger team, they worked less hard. It was not the lack of coordination, as Ringelmann originally thought, but the feeling of being less responsible for the output.
Working for a startup company, I see the sense of accountability with a small team. In these situations, it is almost impossible to ‘loaf’ as we work in high value groups, all responsible for the outcome. I have learned phrases like “minimum viable product” a version of a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers and provide feedback for future product development.
We’ve all gotten in trouble for talking too much. Sometimes we just ramble on, losing track of our thoughts and words. That can work against us. A great skill is learning to say only what is needed and keep points concise and confident. Experience has taught me not over sell or talk too much in a sales presentation. Allow for pause and silence. Sometimes the client will fill the awkward void and provide additional information to help shape the sales process. To the best of my recollection, my Dad rarely complained. The more we complain, the more we limit our ability to see the blessings in our lives and the less we see of what enhances our live.
The transformation of MLB’s Joey Gallo from a sideshow strong man to game-changing All-Star, starts with “less is more.” In Gallo’s case it was less pre-swing movement with a compact and simple swing. I coached defensive backs in the same manner. Keep things calm, no wild extra movements and the ability to change direction and react increases significantly.
A similar expression to “Less is More” is KISS- Keep It Simple Stupid. This was a design principle created by the U.S. Navy in 1960. The intent was to design a military jet that could be repaired in the field by technicians with limited tools. There is also Shakespeare’s “Brevity is the soul of wit,” a line from Hamlet Act-2, Scene-2. The saying has come to mean that a good piece of writing or a good speech, should be brief and concise. During the Shakespearean era the use of the word “wit” was used for wisdom and intelligence. So, wisdom and knowledge is best expressed in a few words.
As Christians, we are called to a life of simplicity, frugality and humility. At what point do our possessions, wealth, status become the focus of our journey? The less of Earth we covet, the more of Heaven we cherish.
Psalm 37:16 says, “Better the meagerness of the righteous one than the plenty of the wicked.” God will reverse things, rewarding the righteous and punishing the wicked. In the words of John the Baptist, referencing Jesus, “I must decrease so He can increase.”
There is very little known about St. Joseph, Mary’s husband. Throughout his life, Joseph was obedient to God’s Will. When the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and explained the virgin birth, Joseph took Mary as his wife (Mt 1:20-24). When the Lord instructed him to take his family to Egypt, he did so without complaint (Mt 2:13-15). He then obeyed the angel’s subsequent commands to return to Israel (Mt 2:19-20) and settle in Nazareth (Mt 2:22-23).
We need to be like Joseph. We can perform our daily work in relative obscurity, heeding God’s call. Joseph shows us that we don’t have to be famous to do great things; he helps us see the importance of humility – where “less is more.”
