Synopsis: Everything that is not related to a bottleneck activity is most likely non-essential. When it comes to most activities, 80-90% of value can be gained by working on an activity for 10% of the time. The world is full of an infinite amount of non-essential activities that one can spend his entire life focusing on.
One of my greatest pet peeves is being around startups who spend their entire day focusing on non-essential activities. Sometimes, it’s time spent on updating a part of the website that no one visits. Sometimes, it’s updating some document that will not be accessed until a year down the road, etc. etc. etc.
One of my greatest pet peeves is being around startups who spend their entire day focusing on non-essential activities. Sometimes, it’s time spent on updating a part of the website that no one visits. Sometimes, it’s updating some document that will not be accessed until a year down the road, etc. etc. etc.
Why do people spend so much time on non-essential activities? There are several reasons for this and I believe it is worthwhile to consciously be aware of them.
Working on non-essential activities can:
Working on non-essential activities can:
1) 1) Serve as a way to procrastinate.
2) 2) Be “interesting” albeit sucking value from the company.
3) 3) Be the result of clinical “perfectionism” (OCD, etc.), a serious disorder affecting many people.
It can also be because the individual lacks the awareness necessary to recognize what is essential and what is non-essential.
The way that I make the distinction between essential and non-essential is whether the activity is needed to advance the company to its next stage.
IS the activity necessary to get you to the next stage? In other words, will you not achieve your outcome if you do not take the said action? Do you really need to reach out to investment bankers 3 years before going public? Do you really have to improve the pitch deck if it is effective in gaining you the second meeting? The answer is NO, NO, NO!
Without exception, the most effective companies are always those who focus on essential activities and do what needs to be done to propel the company to the next step of achievement.
IS the activity necessary to get you to the next stage? In other words, will you not achieve your outcome if you do not take the said action? Do you really need to reach out to investment bankers 3 years before going public? Do you really have to improve the pitch deck if it is effective in gaining you the second meeting? The answer is NO, NO, NO!
Without exception, the most effective companies are always those who focus on essential activities and do what needs to be done to propel the company to the next step of achievement.
P.S. Don't miss an important post! Sign up to receive this blog by email!
02
