Edit to amplify

Macy’s is downsizing to become more profitable, focusing on a few key customer groups: luxury shoppers, private-label buyers, and even prom-goers, rather than trying to appeal to everyone.

Bed Bath & Beyond has moved into prime space in the middle of Container Store locations with its 200 most wanted and profitable items. (Hello, college students and their parents!)

Moving has a way of forcing us to edit. Years in a home can leave us surrounded by... stuff.

I wonder how we might apply the same thinking to work.

Can we edit some of those continual meetings that fill our days? Can we edit how much we feel compelled to tell others and spend more time listening? Could we even find the courage to edit our "to do" list?

Alan Lakein was a fan of A-B-C rankings for daily activities. His advice was to ignore the C's and even the B's, knowing that someday many of them would become A's all on their own.

Nido Qubein recommends focusing more on your "to be" list than your "to do" list.

Perhaps the challenge is not adding more, but editing more.