When my niece was in town, we visited an organic pig farm – combining her love of (all) animals and my desire to do activities that she couldn’t do at home in the big city. We learned from the farmer that he has a sustainable and profitable operation with 100 sows – one-fourth of the number he had a few years ago.
This contraction was done on purpose as he determined that he could meet the demand of his best customers with far fewer pigs – thus reducing his expenses and greatly increasing his quality of life. As a result, he cut out direct-to-consumer sales, focused on his key clients, sold some of his land and is doing quite well with a far more manageable number of animals.
It is the natural inclination of people to “add” in the quest to achieve “more”. We reflexively make additions to our to-do list, our product offerings, our calendar and our strategic plan. But, as was confirmed on the farm, the real magic comes when we subtract the right things.
