The Limitations of More with Less

Undoubtedly you've heard the mantra that we need to do more with less. You may have even used this phrase yourself as a kind of short-hand for some wider/more complicated explanation or justification. The problem with that phrase is it's become so generic it can mean almost anything to anyone. Read: We need to do blah blah blah (just don't say it out loud in a meeting).

Even if we discard some of the more cynical (although not in many cases inaccurate) interpretations of more with less such as, "We're going to layoff half our staff and the rest of you will have to start working twice as hard.", and go with, "We need to become more productive and use fewer resources.", it still doesn't give you a clear understanding of what's required and it may lead to wrong conclusions. "We need to become more productive and use fewer resources." may be interpreted as being applicable across-the-board and/or without regard to priorities, needs, and effectiveness. In fact, for the overall organization to become more productive, there may be a need for more resources in areas like project planning and Information Technology.

So instead of "more with less", let me suggest that we need to "focus on efficiency" because focusing on efficiency is about making a concerted effort to utilize your limited resources to the best possible advantage to accomplish your mission. Now we have a clearer understanding that we need to wisely invest our ever-limited resources into our mission and stop wasting resources on inefficiencies that drain those resources away from the mission.