There’s a funny thing about the human mind when it comes to problem solving. Usually, we look for solutions that add something to the equation, whether it be another resource, person, or strategy. Yet is it easier to solve problems by removing things?

In an article by Diana Kwon for Scientific America, she explores the reason that removing something is a often the more efficient problem-solving strategy. She uses the example of teaching a child to ride a bike.

For generations, the standard way to learn how to ride a bicycle was with training wheels or a tricycle. But in recent years, many parents have opted to train their kids with balance bikes, pedal-less two-wheelers that enable children to develop the coordination needed for bicycling—a skill that is not as easily acquired with an extra set of wheels.

Later in the article she explores research done at the University of Virginia. Observational studies of people solving problems highlighted some interesting patterns.

The researchers first carried out a set of observational studies, assessments without a control group, to see whether this bias existed at all. In one, they asked 91 participants to make a pattern symmetrical by either adding or removing colored boxes. Only 18 people (20 percent) used subtraction. In another, the team scanned through an archive of ideas for improvement submitted to an incoming university president and found that only 11 percent of 651 proposals involved eliminating an existing regulation, practice or program.

Is there a way to guide people to consider removing items rather than adding? Turns out a little nudge in the right direction can do the trick.

The researchers also observed that people were more likely to remove features when they were given more opportunities to consider alternative ways to address a problem: when participants were asked to create a symmetrical pattern by adding or eliminating colored blocks, they opted for removal more often if they were given practice trials than if they had just one chance to tackle the problem. On the other hand, having to simultaneously juggle another task—such as keeping track of numbers on a screen—made individuals less likely to subtract elements to solve the same problem, suggesting that it requires more effort to think up subtractive solutions than additive ones. 

Read the full article to learn more about how to consider subtractive solutions.