Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less
Why the mind defaults to adding and how leaders can make subtractive thinking a practical problem-solving habit.
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KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Leidy Klotz
Professor at the University of Virginia · Author of Subtract
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WHY LEIDY
What Leidy brings to the room.
Reveals why people overlook subtraction — and how taking away creates room for better solutions.
KEYNOTE TOPICS
Ideas built for the stage.
Making Space for Change
How stopping, simplifying and removing work can restore capacity for the transformations that matter.
Behavioural Science Meets Design
How insights about human behaviour can improve organisations, products, decisions and the environments in which people work.
Leidy Klotz is a professor at the University of Virginia whose work connects behavioural science, design and problem-solving. He has published more than 80 peer-reviewed articles, including research in Nature and Science, and advises decision-makers across government, education and international institutions.
His book Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less grows from a deceptively powerful research finding: when people try to improve an object, idea or organisation, they systematically think about what to add before considering what to remove. That bias helps explain why meetings, rules, products and transformation programmes accumulate even when simplification would create more value.
Klotz translates the science into an immediately useful leadership question: what could be removed, stopped or simplified to make space for what matters? He offers a distinctive, evidence-led keynote for organisations seeking clarity, innovation and change capacity rather than another layer of activity.
ON STAGE
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The Untapped Science of Less
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