Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit Of Less

Key takeaways:

- If you are not careful, saying ‘yes' can become your default position. Have you ever found yourself stretched to thin? Would you rather to five things poorly, or two things well? Maybe one thing exceptionally? Do you catch yourself feeling busy, but not productive? The way out is the way of the Essentialist
- ‘Do less, but better.'
- It's not a new years resolution. It's about pausing constantly to ask, ‘Am I investing in the right activities?'
- I agreed with most components of this book, it seemed well supported, however I think there is a time early in a new career or young adulthood where it makes sense to be open to several opportunities until you find what you want to become an essentialist in.
- ‘Discern the vital few from the [trivial, mediocre, good] many'
- You can't have ‘ten top priorities.' Priority means one, the thing that comes prior.
- I like the concept where Frank O'Brian has a ‘thinking retreat. Once a month, he gathers his team into a room for a full day. No emails, no phones allowed. No agenda. The purpose is simply to think and talk. This meeting falls on the first Monday of the month, when everyone is at the top of their game. Clients know not to expect any response on that day. This allows them to take time to re-center on what is essential. That is nearly impossible to do without dedicated time to think. It's hard to grow or innovate without that space. The meeting also serves as a litmus test: if someone can't make the meeting because they have too much going on, either we are doing too much or we need more people. We don't get this time unless we force it into the schedule. It will not occur naturally.
- Focus is something we have, but it is also something we do. In order to have focus, we need to escape TO focus. An essentialist focuses the way our eyes focus, not by fixating on something, but by constantly adjusting to the field of vision. Turn off your phone, computer (literally). Take everything off your desk (literally) but a pen and a paper.
- Sleep is VERY important, both physically and mentally. Get eight hours of sleep. Take a nap during your lunch break. This supercharges your brain and is linked to high performance. Sleep deprivation is very harmful.
- The ability to prioritize IS the priority.
- Essentialism requires a systematic, rigorous approach to hiring. 1. Interview the candidate by phone - this strips away visual cues while forming first impressions. 2. Candidate is interviewed by multiple people throughout the company. 3. If they make it through several rounds of interviews, they are invited to spend a day working with the team. 4. After the day, management sends out a questionnaire to the whole team - instead of just the obvious questions, ask, ‘Would they love working here?' ‘Would we love having them work with us?' No offer or commitment is made at this stage. The objective is to allow both teams to see each other as honestly as possible. If the team isn't absolutely sure, then the answer is no.
- ‘If it isn't a clear yes, it's a no'
- ‘If I didn't already own this, how much would I spend to buy this?' ‘If I didn't already have this opportunity (job, project, client, etc.), what would I be willing to do to acquire it?'
- Rather than asking yourself, ‘What would I say yes to?' ask yourself, ‘What would I say no to?'
- Essential Intent: ‘If we could be truly excellent at only one thing, what would it be? How will we know when we have succeeded?' When looking at mission statements, grandiose is usually bad. Compare: ‘Eliminate hunger in the world.' vs ‘Build 150 affordable, green, storm resistant homes for families living in the lower ninth ward of New Orleans.' The concreteness makes it real, the realness makes it inspiring. This applies to way more than your work mission statement. Apply it to your life.
- I love this idea of saying no to most things firmly because you are so confident in what you want to do. The problem is, I'm not entirely sure what I want to say yes to, at the moment. Saying no FIRMLY is important. When you get a request you don't want to say yes to, but you are having a hard time saying an outright no, say: “I'll need to check my calendar and get back to you”, “No, but I know someone who might want to help”, or, simply say nothing, make it look like you are thinking about it, and wait for the other person to fill the void. People are so afraid of awkward pauses they will probably let you off the hook.
- We can say ‘no' and regret it for a few moments, or say yes and regret it for days, weeks, months, or years.
- Beware of sunk cost bias. ‘If I was presented with this project right now, in it's current condition, what would I be willing to do to acquire it?' An essentialist asks, what else could I do with this time or money if I pull the plug now?
- The Endowment Effect: Nobody has ever washed a rental car. We tend to overvalue things that we already possess. How much would you be willing to sell a mug you currently own for? How much would you be willing to pay for it if you didn't already own it?
- If something doesn't suit the essential intent, drop it. What is the obstacle, that, if removed, would remove the majority of other obstacles?
- Look for small changes we can make in the things we do often, rather than big changes.
- Done is better than perfect. Minimal Viable Product