Chapter 18Too Busy to ScaleUse Ruthless Priorities to Enable Growth
What Everyone Is Thinking
I'm so busy. I don't even have time to think about something new, let alone do something new. I'm focused on revenue. We have customer crises. I don't have time for planning or process or infrastructure. I'm busy on revenue-generating stuff!
The companies that scale are the ones who choose to do less stuff.
It might sound a little counterintuitive, but the companies who scale are the ones who do fewer things. It works because they can do those few things really well. By comparison, the companies who get stuck often get stuck because they keep trying to do too many things. You can't do too many things well. This is another area that requires extreme Valor, because it's really hard to say no to opportunities and give up potential or actual revenue streams in order to focus on becoming great at the few things you choose to win at.
As a leader it's vitally important to develop your confidence in this area. Study successful companies. Every chance you get, talk to CEOs of companies who scaled and ask them, “Did you ever have a scary decision where you had to abandon some revenue streams or opportunities in order to focus on winning in fewer markets?” They will always say, “Yes,” because chaos doesn't scale.
There are three problems related to doing too many things that will keep you in chaos and stall your forward progress.
Problem #1: Addicted to Busy
It's so tempting to stay busy, ...
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