Try it and You May, I Say

The following story comes from the book Stretch by Scott Sonenshein:

In 1957, author Theodor Geisel started a book with a bet. His editor wagered $50 that Geisel couldn’t write a book using only fifty unique words. For most people, these constraints would have been devastating. They’d demand to use more words. For Geisel, the constraints turned out to be liberating. Saying no to limitless words gave him a focused dictionary that enabled him to be creative with the words he could use.

The result: Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss, penned his most successful book, the blockbuster Green Eggs and Ham.

The advice founders tend to get most often is more.

Raise more money than you need.

Hire more to get ahead of growth.

Push for more valuation.

Heck, there’s even a startup bible espousing the virtues doing more faster.

When was the last time you heard someone brag about having less?

We live in a world that values MORE above nearly everything else.

But, more often than not, more is just more of the same.

As Scott points out later in his book:

With abundance, people treat resources as what they appear on the surface, utilizing them in traditional ways.

Without constraints, we follow a “path of least resistance”.

More lulls us into comfortable paths and well worn playbooks.

Most envy those with more.

But.

In a world where everyone is endlessly seeking after more, there’s opportunity to stand out by making magic with less.

As Sam encourages…

You do not like them. So you say.
Try them! Try them! And you may.
Try them and you may, I say.

Give less a try and you may find it more to your liking than you’d thought.