"Reduce, reuse, recycle”is a rallying cry for sustaining our planet’s precious resources. Guess what? We can apply that same mantra to sustain our own organizational precious resources. The limited resources at stake are time, money, and people. By adopting these principles, we can turn scarcity into opportunity, creating leaner, more focused, and more effective teams who have the capacity to execute our new strategies.

We’re naturally wired to believe that adding more is the solution—more resources, more tools, more tasks…more complexity. Yet, as research shows, this instinct for addition can bog us down, leading to diminishing returns. 

The Bias Toward Addition

A study from the University of Virginia highlights our natural bias toward addition. Researchers asked participants to stabilize a wobbly Lego structure. The most efficient solution was to remove a single block. Yet, only 40% of participants chose this approach. Most added blocks, introducing unnecessary complexity.

This tendency was consistent across other scenarios:

• Essay writing: Participants added sentences instead of cutting redundant ones.

• Itinerary planning: They preferred to add activities rather than streamline schedules.

• Engineering design: Students added components instead of removing inefficiencies.

The researchers concluded that subtraction requires more cognitive effort and runs counter to ingrained norms like “more is better.” For organizations, this bias means teams often overcommit, overbuild, and overcomplicate—execution killers that reduce capacity. 

Here’s how to change that dynamic.

Step 1: Reduce – Cutting Back

Reducing is about scaling back initiatives, efforts, or processes that no longer justify their current level of investment. This isn’t about stopping completely (we tackled the hardest “No” decisions earlier); instead, it’s about “Yes, if.” Reducing scope, manpower, or budgets can free up capacity while still retaining some value.

Questions to Explore Reduction Opportunities

• What’s delivering diminishing returns?

  • Which projects, processes, or initiatives once provided value but are now eating up more resources than they’re worth?

• What can be simplified without significant loss?

  • Could a quarterly report become semi-annual?

  • Can you reduce the number of meetings on recurring calendars or cut down their duration?

• Where can we tolerate 75% of the value?

  • For example, could you reduce funding for a non-core project and redirect that budget to a higher-priority initiative?

• What are we duplicating?

  • Are there overlapping efforts in different teams or departments that could be consolidated?

What to Look For

• Projects or processes that once made sense but are no longer aligned with strategic priorities.

• Signs of “overengineering”—too much complexity for the value they provide.

• Legacy commitments where inertia, rather than necessity, keeps them running.

Step 2: Reuse – Aligning What You Already Have

Reuse focuses on identifying what’s working well and ensuring it aligns with your strategy. These are the resources—whether processes, tools, or roles—that don’t need to be rebuilt but might need slight adjustments to maximize their impact.

Questions to Explore Reuse Opportunities

• What’s already delivering value?

  • Which tools, workflows, or approaches are effective as they are and support the new strategy?

• What just needs a small adjustment?

  • Could a marketing program be shifted to target a new audience without reinventing it?

  • Can an existing process be tweaked to better serve a strategic goal?

• What’s on autopilot?

  • Are there recurring processes or budgets that continue without deliberate reevaluation? Could they be realigned to fit new priorities?

• What’s still a great fit?

  • Which parts of the organization’s infrastructure are performing exactly as intended and don’t need major changes?

What to Look For

• Successful workflows or initiatives that already align with our strategy.

• Longstanding tools or processes that can be re-scoped for greater impact.

• Areas where small tweaks could bring big efficiency or alignment gains.

By focusing on reuse, we preserve momentum in areas that work while making strategic refinements that amplify results.

Step 3: Recycle – Redeploying Resources

Recycling is looking for entirely new ways to redeploy resources—whether that’s people, technologies, physical assets, or spaces. This is about unlocking hidden potential by recognizing transferable skills, repurposing existing tools, or shifting assets to new roles.

Questions to Explore Recycling Opportunities

• What transferable skills do our people have?

  • Could someone in a technical role thrive in a strategic role because of their analytical mindset?

  • What experiences do team members have from past roles that could apply to new priorities?

• How can we redeploy physical or digital assets?

  • Could underutilized office space be transformed into a collaborative workspace?

  • Could existing software platforms serve a broader purpose?

• What are we overlooking?

  • Are there underused technologies, tools, or spaces that could add value elsewhere?

• What fresh perspective could a resource bring in a new role?

  • Could a team member’s expertise in one department help solve a persistent challenge in another?

What to Look For

• Individuals with skills or experiences beyond their current roles.

• Technologies or tools with untapped capabilities.

• Physical assets that can be adapted to new strategic needs.

The Payoff: Creating Capacity for Excellence

The work of reducing, reusing, and recycling goes against human nature. It requires deliberate effort to question what’s necessary, adjust what’s effective, and reimagine what’s possible. But the rewards are transformative.

Just as sustainability in the environment helps the planet thrive, these practices unlock capacity for teams to excel. Organizations that embrace this mindset sharpen their strategies and create space for meaningful execution. By starting with thoughtful reductions, realigning effective resources, and redeploying hidden capabilities, you’ll set the stage for a strategy that doesn’t just exist on paper—it comes to life.