Rolf Dobelli is a successful entrepreneur and author. I suspect he is an even better motivational or keynote speaker. He is an accomplished writer, with many books that have catchy, memorable titles. Some of these include Stop Reading the News, The Art of Thinking Clearly, and The Art of the Good Life. While these titles may appear vaguely self-help and are packaged that way, his books clearly have a strong following.
The Not to Do List is one of them, and I listened to
it as an audiobook. It takes the familiar “to-do” list genre of self-help and
flips it, focusing instead on what we should avoid to lead a successful life.
The idea of focusing on what not to do, rather than on what
to do, was not new to me. I first encountered it through Nassim Taleb’s concept
of via negativa, the notion that progress is often achieved more
reliably by removing what causes harm than by adding new optimizations. In
strategy, an area I work in professionally and a subject of long standing
interest, this way of thinking is foundational. Strategy is less about
expanding options and more about narrowing them, about drawing clear lines
around what will be excluded. Peter Drucker articulated this powerfully when he
framed strategy as a discipline of choice. Effectiveness, in his view, comes
not from doing more things well, but from deciding which things should not be
done at all. Seen this way, strategy becomes an act of subtraction, a process
of clearing space so that what truly matters can operate without interference.
I have encountered the same idea across different domains,
from minimalist thinking to practical philosophies of life that emphasize
reduction of friction over accumulation of the next best things. As someone who
values clear boundaries, the idea of not burdening the mind or physical spaces
by consciously avoiding clutter resonates deeply with me. Leading a simple life
is a personal ethos. What may have begun as a necessity shaped by family values
has evolved into a deliberate way of life for me. I consciously try to avoid
overconsumption, and I have seen many highly successful people adopt this
approach and thrive because of it.
Even so, it is not always easy. In today’s hyper commercial
world, it is far easier to consume mindlessly than to curate thoughtfully and
prioritize deliberately. When I came across this book on my library app, it
felt like something worth listening to. Dobelli makes a solid case for
restraint, and the book helped me reflect more directly on these themes. That
said, while it works well as reinforcement for readers already aligned with
this philosophy, I do not think it is the strongest book for introducing or
persuading newcomers.
I suspect this is largely due to the book’s structure. Each
chapter begins, in a roundabout way, with a story illustrating behavior we
should avoid. This is then followed, somewhat formulaically, by what Dobelli
calls the “Quiet Voice of Reason,” explaining what not to do instead. This
approach works in some chapters, but at times it feels contrived and slightly
sardonic.
This format is effective in a keynote speech, where
repetition and structure help drive a message home. In a book, however, it
feels less satisfying. As I tried to articulate what was bothering me, I was
reminded of George Clooney’s character in Up in the Air and his “what is
in your backpack” philosophy. That comparison captured my unease perfectly.
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