In Greg McKeown’s recent book, he explores that idea that often when we become successful, we start to pursue more and more things, watering down our time and energy (what Jim Collin’s calls “The undisciplined pursuit of more”). The antidote to this is the “disciplined pursuit of less, but better.”
The path to doing this is: #1. Discovering the things we want to pursue, #2. Eliminating the rest, and #3. Building a platform for effortless execution. This means saying no to a lot of good ideas or projects so that you can narrow your focus and really excel in a few areas.
I think it’s a great message and certainly one that I’ve tried to incorporate into my everyday work life. I have so many ideas and things I want to pursue but very few of them actually get done. Recently, I’ve delegated a few of my responsibilities away to other members on my team, collaborated on other projects (rather then trying to work on them by myself), and eliminated other unimportant projects altogether. I’ve seen a big difference in what I’ve been able to accomplish and the impact I am making in the organization because I’m able to focus my efforts better and actually get things done.
Check out this video of Greg explaining the concepts in his book: