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Doing More with Less
NPR’s Morning Edition on Thursday 26 February had a short take on the history of the expression: Do More With Less
The government says 7.6 percent of Americans are unemployed. That’s a scary number, but it means most workers still have jobs. These days, many employees are hearing four familiar words: Do more with less.
As one of the interviewees mentions, the phrase is “strategically vague”. Like many of the expressions that we hear from politicians of every stripe, the phrase do more with less can end up meaning whatever they want it to mean. Is the goal “Accomplish the same results with less” due to cutbacks in budgets or staffing? Or is the goal to “Do more with the same resources” because of increased opportunity and the recognition of improved productivity or reliability?
Listen to the podcast and leave a comment here with your thoughts.
Have you heard this expression recently?
How will “Doing more with less” affect your job?
- Category: Business Development, Productivity | Tagged: ,economy, GTD
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Hey Stephen – It was hard to get past the Valley-girl accent in the podcast, so perhaps the phrase sounded even more vapid to me because of that.
“Do more with less” is one of those hollow calls for self-sacrifice, as if taking one for the team – whoever the team is – will be the ultimate panacea. The examples in the piece were attempts to achieve higher productivity levels from a workforce stretched by reduction or stressed by the thought that their job might be the next to be eliminated. Not exactly reassuring, nor ultimately, productive in terms of high quality output.
If an employer or leader is really seeking output improvements and subsequent growth to pay down obligations and budget for projected higher expenses, an investment in additional resources might better include more positive forms of motivation, not the specter of additional scarcity. Hello, Washington? Common sense is holding.
“Doing more with less” is all about efficiency in work. You must be able to utilize every action effectively.
The best example I can think of would be advertising. The best advertisements don’t say much (or anything at all) but you still get the point and, more importantly, you remember their product or service.
I also found that to be a thought provoking segment. I wrote a post about it called “reflections on doing more with less” on the Mindjet blog. Check it out: http://blog.mindjet.com/2009/02/doing-more-with-lessyikes
Michael