Favour The Rare
Ban whatever leads the tally, double whatever trails; stop when nothing leads by more than two.
Formerly Counterselect
Golf handicap: the better you play, the more strokes you give.
Seen in Nintendo, Mario Kart 64, 1996
Try it on your work
Over one sitting, tally each kind of move you make on the thing you're working on. Every ten minutes, forbid the most frequent kind for the next ten and allow the least frequent to count double. Stop when no kind leads the tally by more than two.
Keep a count of the sentence openings you use across a page. The most frequent opening is banned for the next page; the rarest must open at least three sentences. Stop after three pages and read what the balance did to the voice.
Each month, identify the method your team reaches for most. Raise its cost: one extra sign-off, one extra written reason. Lower the cost of the least-used method by the same amount. Stop when the two swap places, then release both.
How it has been used
In negative frequency-dependent selection, a form can gain an advantage precisely because it is rare, then lose that advantage as it becomes common. Studies of colour morphs, behaviours and social strategies show this dynamic preserving variation that a fixed preference might eliminate. Counterselection borrows the same moving bias: success creates resistance, while scarcity creates room.
Where it leads
Grouped under Push me beyond what I’d normally do