Learning to subtract
Published on May 05, 2021By Steph Wray, Director at Nature Positive, an RSK company
In Mrs Brownโs class, in what would now be called Year 1, nobody got to sit around idly if they finished their work early. If youโd completed todayโs task, you would be given a work card or two to keep you occupied until the bell rang for break time. Yellow cards had ten addition-to-twenty sums; blue cards had ten subtractions. I always chose yellow cards. Itโs not that I couldnโt subtract, but addition always seemed easier. It seems Iโm not alone in that thought.
An article published in Nature this month demonstrated that when we are faced with difficult situations, problems to solve or complex issues to unravel, we canโt possibly consider every solution, so we tend to default to a few simple options. And those options, researchers found, tend to be additive. In experiments, unless participants were specifically asked to look for options involving taking something away, they tended to add things on as their default approach to problem solving. For example, when asked to stabilise a Legoยฎ house with one pillar holding up the roof in one corner, participants would typically add more pillars in the other corners rather than simply remove the one currently in place.
That cognitive bias seems widespread. How often when you review a colleagueโs report does it end up shorter? We tend to โfixโ it by adding in detail, references or clearer explanation and find it harder to cut unnecessary padding. If we identify a new risk or opportunity at work, we might add to the rules or guidance to ensure it is dealt with, but how often do we go back over our current systems to prune out what is no longer necessary? In our personal life, if we are a little off-colour, we often seek something we can add into our lives to make us feel better โ a prescription drug, some vitamins, green juice โ rather than think about what we might take away, like alcohol, late nights or stress.
Perhaps there is something inherently less palatable about a loss or maybe we more readily recognise and reward the creativity of additive solutions. When it comes to dealing with the climate and biodiversity challenges that face us, using less can deliver more. Donโt get me wrong, I applaud some of the great technological solutions to climate change. It is certainly a good idea to make the switch to an electric vehicle โ so long as you are sure you need a car at all. The shift to renewable-energy generation is an essential part of our journey to net zero, but it isnโt a panacea. The generation process may be carbon free, but the full life cycle is not. We still need to think, not just in terms of how many solar panels and wind turbines we can add in, but how much energy demand we can subtract. In their journeys to net zero, many businesses jump quickly to offsetting โ adding in trees โ before they have fully explored the more creative subtractions they could make to their energy demands.
In the early nineteenth century, Wordsworth despaired of humanityโs focus on โgetting and spendingโ in his sonnet titled โThe World Is Too Much With Usโ. Two hundred years later, we are even more focused on adding to what we have, and in the rush for new and creative solutions to sustainability, we sometimes forget the simplest solution: just do less, have less, want less. Time to pick up the blue card and start subtracting.
๐ณ๏ธโ๐ RSK is proud to stand alongside members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community.
๐ People deserve to be their authentic selves and love freely without fear.
You can read Graeme and Abigail's full stories next week in RSK insights. Keep an eye on our social media for more information.
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Ryan Dunderdale, Senior Surveyor at Central Alliance, providing technical support and on-site training to datum plate install teams down in Bristol.
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๐ In the June edition of our #employeespotlight, we spoke with with Rosie Pearce at Stephenson Halliday and Carmen Snowdon at WRc Group to find out about their recent achievements ๐
๐ Congratulations to you both!
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๐ In our latest edition of #ADayInTheLife, we spoke with Ellen Lapworth-Maisey, Wellbeing, #Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager at RSK โ a fascinating position that helps to create an inclusive and empowering #culture for all RSK staff.
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Some pictures of the Envireau Water staff on site.
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๐ถ ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฐ๐น๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐
#RSKSteps came to an end on Tuesday 31 May after a month of stepping adventures.
๐๐ป ๐ป๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐:
โ๏ธ1449 participants
โ๏ธ332,268,416 steps
โ๏ธยฃ1500 raised for our chosen charity, MIND!
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๐ Join Dirk Van Look and Chris Hughes on our webinar all about #PFAS โ perfluoroalkyl substances, which are both human-made and known to be harmful to humans.
๐ก We will showcase real-life examples to demonstrate how RSK is responding and developing capabilities to assess these emerging #contaminants.
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๐ข RSK is pleased to announce it has further expanded its presence in Ireland by acquiring one of the most reputable tree care companies in the country.
๐ณ Dermot Casey Tree Care was founded in the 1970s by Managing Director Dermot Casey and is one of the most highly regarded tree surgery companies in Ireland, with more than 50 years of experience.
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