Doing More With Less

Do you know the story of Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess?

I am sure that many of you do.

But do you know the story behind it?

Dr. Seuss actually wrote it on a bet.

Bennet Cerf, the co-founder of Random House, bet Thomas Giesel (Dr. Suess) that he couldn't write a book using 50 words or less -- not 50 words in total, but 50 different words.

In fact, there are 49 single syllable words, plus one 2 syllable word (anywhere.) It seems that he took the bet even further by limiting himself to 50 single syllable words.

Not only does Green Eggs and Ham give us a lesson on the relationships between beliefs and experiences, but it also gives us a lesson on creativity.

In the book Stretch by Scott Sonenshein, he illustrates numerous examples of successful people who became successful because of their limitations, some of which were contrived.

He says, “By adopting a stretching mind-set, we can reach extraordinary potential with what we already have. It’s a matter of recognizing the untapped value in our resources and directing our energy to nurturing and developing what’s in hand.” 

Which means we can use limitations to our advantage, and tap into our other assets, in order to be more creative and innovative in our problem solving.

Yet, we get stuck in this belief that more is better.
More time.
More resources.
More money.
More people.
More learning (aka more books.)

What if less is actually better?

Do you have any untapped resources on hand, that you could use in new ways?

​Originally posted on Linkedin. Head there to read the comments.

Read Deeper Not Faster