It's tough to learn from a prodigy. Uniquely gifted people are impossible to emulate. There's only one Mozart, only one John Lennon and only one Steve Jobs.
"People think focus means saying "yes" to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying "no" to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying "no" to 1,000 things."The problem is, people don't like to hear "no" -- especially employees and customers. Jobs wasn't particularly hampered by a need to be liked. That appeared to be the furthest thing from his mind. Perhaps there's a way to both be liked and to say "no" to good ideas that aren't the one big thing. That's for you to work out. For the good of the enterprise, you may have to subordinate your need to be liked, and say "no" more often than you'd like.
As member Adam Landrum taught us at a CEBI Summit, "Saying "no" to one thing is saying "yes" to something else." Jobs goes further - he says it's about saying "no" to 1,000 things so you can say "yes" to the one big thing.
Have you said "no" to something lately that turned out to be a really good choice? Click "Comments" below and share that experience with others.
To forward this to a friend, Click Here
Terry Weaver
Chief Executive Boards International
http://www.chiefexecutiveboards.com/
TerryWeaver@ChiefExecutiveBoards.comhttp://www.chiefexecutiveboards.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments to CEBI Blog articles are moderated to ensure member privacy and control spam. All comments except those deemed inappropriate should post within 24 hours.