Ep-018: On Additive Bias and why problems are better solved by removing things instead of adding.

Episode Summary

Is more really more? When it comes to problem-solving, the answer is not so obvious. More often than we might realize, adding things is actually a worse strategy for solving problems than simply taking things away. This episode discusses additive bias and the human tendency to think more is more. Especially, the episode covers why we have this tendency, how it is negatively impacting our problem-solving skills, and importantly, what we might do to overcome it.

Link to get Sunsama for free: https://try.sunsama.com/anthony

Some of the main points—The Vital Few (TVF) Timestamps:

What is additive bias, problem solving and how additive bias hampers creative problem solving (5:04)

Legos and why we have additive bias (17:02)

Smart subtractions and Chesterton’s Fence (07:05)

Wondering why we tend to think more is more? Evolution, status quo bias and how organizations are rigged against you (24:23)

The cost of thinking and acting like more is always more (30:06)

Level up your problem-solving—how to beat additive bias and all it’s problems (41:20)

Notes and References

Main paper: People Systematically Overlook Subtractive Changes (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03380-y )

Virtuous Laziness 80/20 Productivity Episode: https://anthonysanni.com/podcast/ep-009-zipfs-law-of-least-and-why-laziness-is-good

Status Quo Bias Research: https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/rzeckhauser/files/status_quo_bias_in_decision_making.pdf

Anthony’s Book: The Law of The Vital Few