Back in the 1990's I was Head of Operations for a niche upmarket Tour Operator, Simply Travel. It was a great company. We provided quality and authentic accommodation in some of the most beautiful destinations in Europe, we provided the best possible service. We sold the business to Thomson Travel in 1999 and in 2000 I moved to an online travel start up during the dotcom boom.
I mention this because I'd like to thank Steve Rushton (@stevemrushton), our Managing Director at the time for some sage advice.
I was busy, flat out. As I like to get things done well, I was worried that I was not completing everything I wanted to. Not enough i's were dotted or t's were crossed. My to do list was never ending. Steve said that if I had too much work, it wasn't important to finish everything, it is more important to finish the most important work first. He said something like, "If you have enough work to fill 150% of your time, make sure you choose the most important 100%".
A few years later I was at Expedia. I was with Dermot Halpin and we were talking about strategy. Dermot emphasised that it's not what you choose to do that defines your strategy, it's what you decide not to do. If you are not saying no, you don't have a strategy.
On the same theme, I came across this really helpful post today "A VC's 10 startup secrets he wishes he had known as an entrepreneur". It's by Micheal Skok (@mjskok), a VC at North Bridge.
The ten tips he goes on to list are very relevant but I'd like to highlight one in particular that all of us can learn from, in business and in life. He calls it "Don’t be afraid to say “no” more than “yes.”".
So often in life we want to say yes. Opportunities are around every corner. It's important to grasp these opportunities. However, if you are lucky enough to have more opportunities than time, what will define you is what you say no to, not what you say yes to.
2 comments:
I just came across more on the same theme...
Nest’s Tony Fadell on the importance of focus and saying ‘no’ (Nic Brisbourne - TheEquityKicker)
On of the reasons people to want to complete everything, rather than choosing what to leave out, can be an insecurity that if they don't complete everything then it will all go wrong.
The further up an organisation you go, or if you are lucky enough to start your own, it becomes easier to prioritise because you are clear of the boundaries and what the targets are. I always advise everyone who works for me to understand exactly what they are being asked to do. This not only ensures that they know what to do, but also what not to do - it's often a lack of clear focus on the end goal that creates list overload. It also means that if I'm on the wrong track, but we all know the target, no-one is afraid to challenge!
I came across a great set of "10 things I learned in 2013" from the Yesware blog - a great email app for helping to close sales deals:) It starts with Lesson #1 – No One Knows What’s Going On, http://www.yesware.com/blog/2014/01/06/10-things-learned-2013/ which is a really useful read to help all those people understand that while goals may be clear - there is no right answer, no one does know exactly what to do, it's all a game!
Post a Comment