What Is Focus
Focus is a concept that's often thrown around but rarely understood in depth. Many see it as tunnel vision, but true focus is far more nuanced and dynamic.
What Focus Is (and Isn’t)
— It’s Not About Narrowing Vision Forever: Focus requires a broad understanding to set meaningful goals but also demands adaptability based on new insights.
— It’s Not Sticking Rigidly to a Path: While consistency is key, great achievements often come from iterating smartly and knowing when to pivot.
At its core, focus is about zooming out to define goals, zooming in to execute, and zooming out again to reassess and iterate.
Focus Means Four Key Things:
1. One Meaningful Goal
— Identify a singular long-term goal instead of chasing multiple paths.
2. Prioritize the Most Important Next Step
— Distill what must be done right now to move closer to the goal.
3. Stay the Course Long Enough to Learn
— Execute consistently to gather meaningful data and insights.
4. Refine Based on What You Learn
— Use insights to reassess and adjust your longer-term goal as needed.
The Five Advantages of Focus
1. You Move Faster
— Without Focus: Decision-making becomes convoluted, with team members debating different goals. This leads to wasted time and energy.
— With Focus: Decisions align with one clear objective. Time spent debating is minimized, and more time is spent executing.
2. You Learn More
Focusing allows you to dig deep rather than skimming the surface. True insights emerge only when you break through superficial data and explore the deeper layers of problems.
3. You Make More Progress
— Rhodes Scholars, some of the most accomplished individuals, achieve their goals by tackling one endeavor at a time, sequentially rather than in parallel.
— Similarly, startups move faster when they focus on solving one core problem at a time.
4. You Build Confidence
Progress builds confidence. With focus, teams see tangible results, reinforcing their belief in their ability to succeed, even in the face of challenges.
5. You Become More Valuable
— Companies that focus on becoming the best in a single niche outperform competitors.
— Professionals who specialize deeply in one or two areas are more valuable than generalists dabbling in many.
Why Focus Is Hard
1. Choosing a Focus
Multiple Options, Imperfect Information: There’s never one clear answer, and the fear of picking the wrong path often leads to avoiding focus altogether.
Solution: Accept imperfection. Use focus as a way to learn faster, even if your initial choice isn’t perfect.
2. Sticking With a Focus
External Pressure: Advisors, team members, or shiny new ideas may tempt you to pivot prematurely.
Solution: Understand that new options often look deceptively easier because you haven’t yet uncovered their complexities.
3. Knowing When to Change Focus
Sunk Cost Fallacy: It’s tough to abandon a path after investing significant time and resources, even if it’s not yielding results.
Solution: Set clear milestones and forcing functions (e.g., timeframes) to objectively evaluate whether it’s time to pivot.
A Framework for Focus
Start with a Hypothesis
Use available data and insights to identify the most promising focus area.
Identify Assumptions
Clearly define the assumptions underlying your chosen focus.
Measure Progress
Set specific metrics or milestones to track against your assumptions.
Set Timeframes
Commit to a period where you’ll focus exclusively on testing your hypothesis.
Extract Learnings
Whether successful or not, analyze what worked and what didn’t.
Iterate
Use the learnings to refine your focus or shift to a new hypothesis.
Final Thought
Focus isn’t just a discipline—it’s a competitive advantage. By narrowing your efforts, you gain clarity, learn faster, and ultimately achieve more. The key is embracing focus as a dynamic, iterative process rather than a fixed, rigid path.
Focus is a concept that's often thrown around but rarely understood in depth. Many see it as tunnel vision, but true focus is far more nuanced and dynamic.
What Focus Is (and Isn’t)
— It’s Not About Narrowing Vision Forever: Focus requires a broad understanding to set meaningful goals but also demands adaptability based on new insights.
— It’s Not Sticking Rigidly to a Path: While consistency is key, great achievements often come from iterating smartly and knowing when to pivot.
At its core, focus is about zooming out to define goals, zooming in to execute, and zooming out again to reassess and iterate.
Focus Means Four Key Things:
1. One Meaningful Goal
— Identify a singular long-term goal instead of chasing multiple paths.
2. Prioritize the Most Important Next Step
— Distill what must be done right now to move closer to the goal.
3. Stay the Course Long Enough to Learn
— Execute consistently to gather meaningful data and insights.
4. Refine Based on What You Learn
— Use insights to reassess and adjust your longer-term goal as needed.
The Five Advantages of Focus
1. You Move Faster
— Without Focus: Decision-making becomes convoluted, with team members debating different goals. This leads to wasted time and energy.
— With Focus: Decisions align with one clear objective. Time spent debating is minimized, and more time is spent executing.
2. You Learn More
Focusing allows you to dig deep rather than skimming the surface. True insights emerge only when you break through superficial data and explore the deeper layers of problems.
3. You Make More Progress
— Rhodes Scholars, some of the most accomplished individuals, achieve their goals by tackling one endeavor at a time, sequentially rather than in parallel.
— Similarly, startups move faster when they focus on solving one core problem at a time.
4. You Build Confidence
Progress builds confidence. With focus, teams see tangible results, reinforcing their belief in their ability to succeed, even in the face of challenges.
5. You Become More Valuable
— Companies that focus on becoming the best in a single niche outperform competitors.
— Professionals who specialize deeply in one or two areas are more valuable than generalists dabbling in many.
Why Focus Is Hard
1. Choosing a Focus
Multiple Options, Imperfect Information: There’s never one clear answer, and the fear of picking the wrong path often leads to avoiding focus altogether.
Solution: Accept imperfection. Use focus as a way to learn faster, even if your initial choice isn’t perfect.
2. Sticking With a Focus
External Pressure: Advisors, team members, or shiny new ideas may tempt you to pivot prematurely.
Solution: Understand that new options often look deceptively easier because you haven’t yet uncovered their complexities.
3. Knowing When to Change Focus
Sunk Cost Fallacy: It’s tough to abandon a path after investing significant time and resources, even if it’s not yielding results.
Solution: Set clear milestones and forcing functions (e.g., timeframes) to objectively evaluate whether it’s time to pivot.
A Framework for Focus
Start with a Hypothesis
Use available data and insights to identify the most promising focus area.
Identify Assumptions
Clearly define the assumptions underlying your chosen focus.
Measure Progress
Set specific metrics or milestones to track against your assumptions.
Set Timeframes
Commit to a period where you’ll focus exclusively on testing your hypothesis.
Extract Learnings
Whether successful or not, analyze what worked and what didn’t.
Iterate
Use the learnings to refine your focus or shift to a new hypothesis.
Final Thought
Focus isn’t just a discipline—it’s a competitive advantage. By narrowing your efforts, you gain clarity, learn faster, and ultimately achieve more. The key is embracing focus as a dynamic, iterative process rather than a fixed, rigid path.