Leidy Klotz
Leidy Klotz
Leidy Klotz is an award-winning professor, international speaker, and the acclaimed author of Subtract, whose groundbreaking research – published in both Nature and Science–has shifted our understanding of how to approach problems and create change. Leidy knows design–the craft of changing things from how they are to how we want them to be. Which, he reminds us, is something we all do every day. By embracing the power of subtraction, we can transform not only our daily routines but also our business practices.
Leidy has given more than 100 invited talks for organizations and universities including Stanford, MIT, and every member of the Ivy League (except Yale). Hidden Brain (NPR), Freakonomics, and The Atlantic have interviewed Leidy. And he has written for The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Scientific American, and The Washington Post.
An experienced educator, Leidy has taught thousands of students as a professor at the University of Virginia, including 21 Ph.D. advisees whose designs and teaching shape the world. Diversity and inclusion are core tenets of Leidy’s work. Groups underrepresented in their respective fields make up more than three quarters of his advisees.
Before he taught design, Leidy Klotz designed schools in New Jersey. And before that, he played professional soccer.
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Do Less (Subtract)
Unleash the power of subtraction in your organization. We need to understand why we overlook this option, then we can get better at using it for positive change. Until we embrace subtraction, we cannot unlock our greatest potential. Drawing from the speaker’s acclaimed book, Subtract, and lessons learned from his work across fields and industries, this topic will help you to declutter your organization, streamline your thinking, and change how you see your world. A renowned speaker and educator, Leidy delivers a select number of customized and high-impact engagements each year, including keynotes, workshops, and strategic coaching with executive teams. In-person and virtual options are available.
Making Space: Shaping the places that shape us
More than half of us actively dislike the space in which we work. We consider open plan and private offices; hot desks and lunch rooms; work from home and return to the office. But what we all need from our surroundings is more basic: agency, mastery, and connection. Homing in on those needs, we are empowered with ways to meet them, no designer required. Drawing from the speaker’s forthcoming (Little Brown, 2026) book, this topic helps you mentally engage with the physical surroundings that determines whether you (and your employees) will be happy, productive, and fulfilled.
“Hidden Brain: ‘Innovation 2.0: Do Less'”
“62 Books ‘The Ezra Klein Show’ Guests Recommended This Year”
“Humans solve problems by adding complexity, even when it’s against our best interests”
“Leidy Klotz on Why the Best Solutions Involve Less — Not More”
“Why It’s Hard to See that Less Is More”
“For new year’s resolutions, is it better to add or subtract?”
“Midweek Reset: The Power of Subtraction”
Read Leidy’s scholarly and peer-reviewed articles.
“From Designing a House to Editing Text, Sometimes Less Is More”
Learn more about Leidy’s course on sustainability on Coursera.
Visit Leidy Klotz’s personal website.
“Leidy Klotz’s talk changes the world you live in, revealing opportunities you didn’t even know were there.”
— Jonathan Barzilay, Chief Operating Officer, PBS“Leidy’s presentation was amazing! Especially, in the way he connected with our leaders, both days, and personalized the concepts for them.”
— Anita Jensen, SVP, Organizational Learning & Development, Jefferson Health“We’re very happy and grateful for the highly insightful and entertaining talk Leidy gave, and so is our audience who has given us wonderful feedback for it!”
— Laura de Wolf, Director Conferences & International Projects, Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute“Leidy’s keynote did exactly what we hoped it would: prompted new thinking and discussion about how we can apply what he presented!”
— Jennifer Axsom Adler, USPAA“It’s human nature to try solving problems by adding a step or an extra feature, but that may not always be the right answer, and this is particularly true when working with technology.”
— Mark Spykerman, Chief Information Officer, Amerisourcebergen Corp.“Leidy Klotz pinpoints a gaping hole in our mental math.”
— Adam Grant, author of Think Again, Wharton ProfessorBook This Speaker
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