You Lack Priorities, Not Information
Problems Are Easy to Solve If You Know What You're After
Strategy as Prioritization
Strategy is about prioritizing resources - time, money, people - against unlimited options. When you have one clear goal for one clear company and customer, prioritization becomes easier. Most people fail because they don't have a clear goal or problem to solve.
Example 1: Media Company
A media company with 40 million subscribers approached me, thinking they needed to optimize their SOPs. When asked about their goal, they mentioned monetization but had no product to sell. I suggested focusing on product development to monetize their audience, rather than optimizing SOPs, which would have minimal impact on revenue.
Example 2: Sales Guy
A sales-focused entrepreneur attended a workshop and asked about the "closer framework" despite having a 40% close rate. Sales wasn’t his business constraint, but he enjoyed selling and wanted to focus on it. Often, entrepreneurs focus on areas they are comfortable with, rather than the real issues constraining their business.
Business Balance
Your business must be well-balanced. Each part of the business - marketing, product, operations - needs attention. If you're strong in one area but weak in another, your business will be constrained by the weakest link. You need to either learn or hire for the areas you're weak in.
Hiring Right
When hiring, especially for roles you're not an expert in, interview extensively. Learn from each interview and look for candidates who can articulate their metrics and how they drive business outcomes. For example, a good sales director should discuss increasing conversion rates and how that ties to revenue.
Tactical Hiring Process
- Interview Extensively: Gain a broad understanding by interviewing many candidates.
- Learn Metrics: Understand the metrics candidates use to describe their roles.
- Tie Roles to Revenue: Ensure candidates can explain how their function makes the business money.
By focusing on the right priorities and ensuring your business is balanced, you can effectively solve problems and drive growth. Prioritization, not information, is the key to success.
You Allow Too Many Things That Don't Matter to Distract You
By prioritizing your time, focusing on high-leverage tasks, and being okay with letting some fires burn, you can ensure that you work on what truly matters, driving significant progress in your business.
Prioritize Deep Work
You must block time for work that moves the ball forward. A month later, this will be the only thing you have to show for the previous month. Very few things are true existential crises. The expectation that everyone, including customers and employees, can demand immediate responses from you as the owner is unrealistic.
The Story
At my first gym, after finally getting some sleep, I got a call at 5:30 in the morning. The caller said there was a water leak. I asked what he expected me to do and suggested he call a plumber and get a bucket. The issue wasn't an emergency requiring my immediate attention. Eleanor Roosevelt had a similar approach, once responding to bad news in the middle of the night by saying it could have waited until morning.
Importance of Prioritization
If everything is urgent, nothing is a priority. Priorities literally mean “prior” - they come first. I start my day with tasks that matter most. When reflecting on the past month, I focus on significant progress, not minor issues like a refund for a dissatisfied customer or a brief chat support outage.
Letting Fires Burn
Allow some fires to burn if not addressing them immediately won't kill the business. Not getting important work done will have a more significant negative impact. I dedicate the first four to six hours of my day to high-leverage tasks, a habit that has driven my success.
Drawing Lines
Every entrepreneur suffers from the temptation to address urgent but unimportant tasks. Protect your first four to six hours. Initially, I woke up at 4:00 AM to work uninterrupted until 10:00 AM. As my business grew, I shifted my schedule to start at 6:00 AM, working until noon. Everyone on my team knows I only take meetings in the afternoon.
Real-World Example
When someone wants to connect me with someone else, I say I take meetings on Mondays. If they can't accommodate that, we don't meet. Prioritizing my schedule ensures I focus on what's important. You have to be okay with saying no and managing expectations.
Protecting Deep Work
My team knows that scheduling a meeting in the morning ruins my deep work time. I schedule meetings from the back of the day forwards, starting with the last hour of my workday. This preserves my uninterrupted time for high-priority tasks.
Different Productivity Styles
While I thrive on uninterrupted deep work, my partner Leila excels with a fully stacked day, managing and delegating tasks, holding people accountable, and interviewing new candidates. Her form of productivity complements mine, allowing us to maximize our effectiveness.
Entrepreneurship at the Highest Levels
At the highest levels, entrepreneurship is about hiring ahead of where you are. All businesses, regardless of what they sell, eventually focus on managing people and processes. Understanding this is crucial for sustained success.
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