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Business Rule #46:
Less is More
March 20, 2006
(PAGE 2 of 2)
In creative writing, there’s a saying that you have to “kill your babies.” That is, you must be willing to cut out parts of your creation that you love, if they don’t serve the overall purpose of the project. It’s a real challenge for even the most astute, talented, and accomplished writers. It requires that you first recognize that something you are proud of just isn’t working. Then you have to be able to divorce yourself from it emotionally and let it go for the greater good.
A friend of mine is a successful screenwriter who got an agent with the very first screenplay she wrote. Even better, a Hollywood producer bought an option on her second screenplay. He loved it, but wanted some major changes. She’d spent two years writing a script for an ensemble piece that the producer now wanted her to turn into a vehicle for a star—meaning a major rewrite, resulting in a very different vision than she originally had in mind. She though performed like a pro, stepped up to the plate, and delivered a rewrite that took the project to the next step. She sacrificed her ego for the success of the project.
Gold Rush had a dark moment of doubt when they first saw the photos they took of the model for their billboard. Bryce Gahagan, who was the one who originally came up with the idea of chugging the cereal in the first place, disliked them so much that he suggested that they use four photos of the cereal box instead. Project Manager Charmaine though stayed the course. She reminded her team that they didn’t have time to start over—that they had to use what they had “and love it.” Ultimately that’s exactly what they did, and they won the task.
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When Synergy filed into the boardroom, Mr. Trump acknowledged that they had done a decent job—just not as good as Gold Rush. Synergy had a bit too much of everything. The billboard was way too busy. It had too many words, colors, and fonts. Even their presentation was too much. Their slide show went on so long that The Donald cut it short.
When Trump asked everyone how Tammy was as a leader, most of the team said she did a good job. Brent Buckman though bluntly said, “She stinks.” He could have found a less hostile way to say the same thing, but he just had to be dramatic. Here too, less would have been more. If Brent could have managed to have even a single unexpressed thought, he might have survived.
Donald Trump wasted no time. He didn’t even bother to ask Tammy whom she wanted to bring back in. Trump simply fired Brent on the spot.
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You must be willing to cut out parts of your creation that you love, if they don’t serve the overall purpose of the
