Now that the year has started and corporate objectives have been clarified, it’s time to think about your own objectives! Whilst awaiting the bonus payments many an executive might be mulling over their career perspectives. In the “The Disciplined Pursuit of Less” (HBR, August 2012) author Greg McKeown gives some good insight as to how to avoid the “undisciplined pursuit of more” and proposes that previous success can actually act as a catalyst for future failure:
· Phase 1: When we really have clarity of purpose, it leads to success.
· Phase 2: When we have success, it leads to more options and opportunities.
· Phase 3: When we have increased options and opportunities, it leads to diffused efforts.
· Phase 4: Diffused efforts undermine the very clarity that led to our success in the first place.
He calls this the ‘clarity paradox.’ Here’s how to avoid it along with further considerations (‘et alors'):
The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
Here are the 3 ways to avoid the ‘clarity paradox’:
Use more extreme criteria
If we look for “a good opportunity,” then we will find lots of ideas for us to think about. Instead, we can conduct an advanced “search” and ask three questions: “what am I deeply passionate about?”, “what taps my talent?” and “what meets a significant need in the world?” Evidently, there won’t be as many ‘search results’ to view, but that is the point: rather than a multitude of “good” things to do, we are looking for our absolute highest point of contribution…
Ask "what is essential?"
… And eliminate the rest! There are 2 key steps: 1/ Conducting a life audit. Consider which ideas from the past are important and pursue only those; otherwise “throw out the rest!” and 2/ Eliminating an old activity before you add a new one. This rule ensures that you don’t add an activity that is less valuable than something you are already doing…
Beware of the endowment effect
This refers to our tendency to value an item more once we own it. (Think of how something that you haven’t used in years seems to increase in value the moment you think about giving it away…) Instead of asking “how much do I value this item?” we should ask “if I did not own this item, how much would I pay to obtain it?” The same goes for career opportunities: we shouldn’t ask, “how much do I value this opportunity?” but “if I did not have this opportunity, how much would I be willing to sacrifice in order to obtain it?”
Et Alors
As the author says “if success is a catalyst for failure because it leads to the ‘undisciplined pursuit of more,’ then one simple antidote is the disciplined pursuit of less. Not just haphazardly saying no, but purposefully, deliberately, and strategically eliminating the nonessentials. Not just once a year as part of a planning meeting, but constantly reducing, focusing and simplifying. Not just getting rid of the obvious time wasters, but being willing to cut out really terrific opportunities as well. Few appear to have the courage to live this principle, which may be why it differentiates successful people and organizations from the very successful ones…” Food for thought as you consider ‘what next...?’
· Phase 1: When we really have clarity of purpose, it leads to success.
· Phase 2: When we have success, it leads to more options and opportunities.
· Phase 3: When we have increased options and opportunities, it leads to diffused efforts.
· Phase 4: Diffused efforts undermine the very clarity that led to our success in the first place.
He calls this the ‘clarity paradox.’ Here’s how to avoid it along with further considerations (‘et alors'):
The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
Here are the 3 ways to avoid the ‘clarity paradox’:
Use more extreme criteria
If we look for “a good opportunity,” then we will find lots of ideas for us to think about. Instead, we can conduct an advanced “search” and ask three questions: “what am I deeply passionate about?”, “what taps my talent?” and “what meets a significant need in the world?” Evidently, there won’t be as many ‘search results’ to view, but that is the point: rather than a multitude of “good” things to do, we are looking for our absolute highest point of contribution…
Ask "what is essential?"
… And eliminate the rest! There are 2 key steps: 1/ Conducting a life audit. Consider which ideas from the past are important and pursue only those; otherwise “throw out the rest!” and 2/ Eliminating an old activity before you add a new one. This rule ensures that you don’t add an activity that is less valuable than something you are already doing…
Beware of the endowment effect
This refers to our tendency to value an item more once we own it. (Think of how something that you haven’t used in years seems to increase in value the moment you think about giving it away…) Instead of asking “how much do I value this item?” we should ask “if I did not own this item, how much would I pay to obtain it?” The same goes for career opportunities: we shouldn’t ask, “how much do I value this opportunity?” but “if I did not have this opportunity, how much would I be willing to sacrifice in order to obtain it?”
Et Alors
As the author says “if success is a catalyst for failure because it leads to the ‘undisciplined pursuit of more,’ then one simple antidote is the disciplined pursuit of less. Not just haphazardly saying no, but purposefully, deliberately, and strategically eliminating the nonessentials. Not just once a year as part of a planning meeting, but constantly reducing, focusing and simplifying. Not just getting rid of the obvious time wasters, but being willing to cut out really terrific opportunities as well. Few appear to have the courage to live this principle, which may be why it differentiates successful people and organizations from the very successful ones…” Food for thought as you consider ‘what next...?’
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