Do Less Better: The Power of Strategic Sacrifice in a Complex World

by John R. Bell

Do Less Better teaches leaders how to recognize the complexity and inefficiencies within their businesses and reveals how they can simplify and streamline through specialization and sacrifice. According to Bell, a company's willingness to focus on a particular vision or identity ensures viability and strengthens its competitive edge.

238 pages, Hardcover

First published December 30, 2014

About the author

Before becoming an author of business books and historical fiction, John Bell was a CEO, global strategy consultant, and a director of several private, public, and not-for-profit organizations. A prolific blogger, John's musings on strategy, leadership, and branding have appeared in various journals such as Fortune, Forbes and ceoafterlife.com. His novel, 'The Circumstantial Enemy' chronicles the trials and capers of Tony Babic, a young pilot who finds himself forcibly aligned with Hitler’s Luftwaffe in 1941. John's business book, 'Do Less Better' provides a tool-kit of road-tested strategies for leaders eager to find agility and resilience.

Reviews

[Jon Mertz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any time you can gain a personal perspective from a former CEO and their experiences, you should take it. John R. Bell delivers practical leadership and strategic insights throughout Do Less Better. From what bold leadership really means to the value of focus in the strategic direction and operations of company, each chapter is well-grounded.

Simplicity gets overlooked too often, especially when it comes to strategy. John brings our attention back to the power of simplicity in the product mix, the go-to-market operations, along with revenue and profit growth. Complexity muddles, yet too many adopt this approach by purchasing companies and products and slamming it all together. Do Less Better shows how this can be a very harmful strategy.

Overall, John's last chapter alone is worth the value of the book. In "Regrets...I've Had a Few." The honesty is evident throughout his writing but, in this final chapter, it all comes together to emphasize key lessons learned and points to consider for business, leadership, and life.

[Whit · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a disappointment. Usually anything above a 4 on GR stands true. That was not the case for this book.
This book was poorly edited; there were grammar mistakes and some sentences that didn’t make sense. There were factual inaccuracies.
While I typically like books that involve stories of experience and insights, there was far too much of the author’s off-the-cuff opinions for me to take much of it seriously. While I really like the concept and main point of this book, it could have been executed better.