I came across a quote recently from James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits:
“When you need clarity, subtract.”
It stuck with me because it feels like the opposite of what many businesses tend to do.
When things feel unclear or stuck, the natural instinct is to ask:
“What should we do?”
And that usually leads to adding something.
A new product. Another service.
A different marketing channel. Another social media platform.
None of those things are necessarily wrong. But when you keep adding more, you can end up spreading yourself too thin and losing focus.
It makes me wonder if “What should we do?” is sometimes the wrong question.
Maybe a better question is:
“What should we stop doing?”
In our brand strategy workshops, we sometimes see businesses that aren’t doing much marketing at all. In those cases, adding activity makes sense.
But often the opposite is true. Businesses are already doing plenty — just in too many directions.
And in those situations, the answer isn’t to add more.
It’s to cut things back and focus.
So next time things feel unclear in your business, it might be worth asking:
What should we stop doing?
