Less Action

There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all. — Peter Drucker

This essay, along with illustrations, was put together for a presentation in 2010.

© John Parker Dilworth

Anything is better than nothing?

Most of us have been taught throughout our lives that "doing anything is better than doing nothing."

While "action" is necessary and good, this constant focus on action has made us overlook the benefits of inaction.

To understand inaction, we have to understand that there are both positive and negative actions.

There are also positive and negative inactions.

In many instances, we may find that "doing nothing" is orders of magnitude better than "doing anything."

Action is like Chuck Norris - the ultimate action hero.

Chuck Norris kicks butt on everything; he’s so tough that my hands started bleeding just drawing this picture.

But we don't always need Chuck Norris.

Positive actions

Our actions are positive when we do things that are good, things that help others, and make people feel better.

Inactions are positive when we don't do harm to the natural order. We allow positive actions to take place without interference.

Negative actions

Actions are negative if they do harm to others, if they are evil, if our intent is to make ourselves better by hurting others.

Inactions are negative if we allow harm to happen to others, or if by our inaction we selfishly allow others to be harmed in order to make ourselves better.

Mullet actions

It is not always easy to tell the difference between positive actions, negative actions, and inactions.

Like a mullet haircut, some actions or inactions will have both positive and negative effects.

Sometimes we think our actions or inactions are good, but they may actually be causing harm to us and to others.

Consequences of action

All of our actions and inactions have consequences.

If we put our hand in the fire, we are going to get burned.

If we don't put our hand in the fire, we don't get burned.

We cannot always control the consequences of our actions or inaction.

Uncontrollable outcomes

Sometimes the same action or inaction will yield different consequences.

We also know that all of our actions or inactions, no matter how insignificant they might be, can result in an infinite series of new actions and new consequences that we also cannot control.

Even the smallest actions or inactions, like the flapping or not flapping of a butterfly's wings, can cause huge outcomes.

We can never know for sure what the outcome of our action or inaction will truly be.

Inaction is inhibitory

Inaction can solve problems and remove annoyances, not by taking new action, but by redirecting existing action into more positive directions.

By thinking more before we act and possibly not acting at all, we can turn potentially negative outcomes into positive ones.

Inaction is invincible

If there are both positive actions and negative actions, and we can’t always control the consequences of our actions, doing anything cannot always be better than doing nothing.

Inaction doesn’t want or need an action figure.

There's no action—even by Chuck Norris—that can touch you or force you to lose when you refuse to play.

Inaction is inaudible

Action is like noise, and inaction is like silence.

T.S. Eliot wrote:

“All of our doing gives us knowledge of motion, but not of silence.”

Sometimes silence is what we need.

Silence comes from the right kind of inaction.

Inaction is inert

Inaction is almost always easier than action.

It's like multiplying by Zero.

When you multiply by zero, zero always wins.

No matter how powerful or large the action is, there is always an inaction (zero) that can cancel it out.

Inaction is instant

The very second you decide to not do something, you are done.

Inaction creates time, while action takes time away.

Inaction is inexpensive

Inaction is inexpensive.

Not buying the stuff you don’t need saves you money.

As Benjamin Franklin put it:

A Penny saved is Two Pence clear. A Pin a-day is a Groat a Year. Save and have.

Inaction may have consequences that cost, but the inaction itself is free.

There is always a cost and a consequence associated with action.

Inaction is infinite

Inaction is infinitely scalable.

You can “not do” an infinite number of things simultaneously.


Action is only capable of one thing at a time.

Nothing is better than anything

And that's why the next time you think you need to take action and "do anything," consider the benefits of inaction.

Maybe what we all need is a little less action in our lives.