Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less - By Greg McKeown
Date read: 2017-05-05How strongly I recommend it: 10/10
(See my list of 150+ books, for more.)
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There are a lot of books out there that talk about techniques in order to increase productivity. But there are surprisingly few that talk about a philosophy to redesign your life so you can focus on what really matters. Recommended for anyone who says they're too busy to get to what they really want out of life.
Contents:
- THE CORE LOGIC OF AN ESSENTIALIST
- THE IMPORTANCE OF FOCUS
- THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAY
- THE IMPORTANCE OF CHOOSING NO
- REMOVING THE TRIVIAL MANY
- ESSENTIAL INTENT
- HOW TO UNCOMMIT
- EDITING
- THE IMPORTANCE OF BOUNDARIES
- FIND YOUR DEALBREAKERS
- HOW TO EXECUTE ESSENTIALISM
- PRODUCE MORE BY REMOVING MORE
- THE IMPORTANCE OF PROGRESS
- THE IMPORTANCE OF ROUTINES
- LEADERSHIP APPLICATIONS
My Notes
Instead of making just a millimeter of progress in a million directions you should generate tremendous momentum towards accomplishing the things that are truly vital.
Only once you give yourself permission to stop trying to do it all, to stop saying yes to everyone, can you make your highest contribution towards the things that really matter.
The relentless pursuit of less but better. It doesn’t mean occasionally giving a nod to the principle. It means pursuing it in a disciplined way.
Essentialism is a disciplined, systematic approach for determining where our highest point of contribution lies, then making execution of those things almost effortless.
If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.
What if we stopped celebrating being busy as a measurement of importance? What if instead we celebrated how much time we had spent listening, pondering, meditating, and enjoying time with the most important people in our lives?
Essentialism is not a way to do one more thing; it is a different way of doing everything.
To embrace the essence of Essentialism requires we replace these false assumptions with three core truths: “I choose to,” “Only a few things really matter,” and “I can do anything but not everything.”
Choice is an action. While we may not always have control over our options, we always have control over how we choose among them.
When we forget our ability to choose, we learn to be helpless.
Working hard is important. But more effort does not necessarily yield more results. “Less but better” does.
Take the time to explore all options.
Ignoring the reality of trade-offs is a terrible strategy for organizations. It turns out to be a terrible strategy for people as well.
A Nonessentialist approaches every trade-off by asking, “How can I do both?” Essentialists ask the tougher but ultimately more liberating question, “Which problem do I want?” An Essentialist makes trade-offs deliberately.
As painful as they can sometimes be, trade-offs represent a significant opportunity. By forcing us to weigh both options and strategically select the best one for us, we significantly increase our chance of achieving the outcome we want.
Instead of asking, “What do I have to give up?” they ask, “What do I want to go big on?”
Discern the Vital Few from the Trivial Many - To discern what is truly essential we need space to think, time to look and listen, permission to play, wisdom to sleep, and the discipline to apply highly selective criteria to the choices we make. Essentialists spend as much time as possible exploring, listening, debating, questioning, and thinking. But their exploration is not an end in itself. The purpose of the exploration is to discern the vital few from the trivial many. Unfortunately, in our time-starved era we don’t get that space by default — only by design.
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 and adapting to the field of vision.
By abolishing any chance of being bored we have also lost the time we used to have to think and process.
The faster and busier things get, the more we need to build thinking time into our schedule. And the noisier things get, the more we need to build quiet reflection spaces in which we can truly focus.
In every set of facts, something essential is hidden. And a good journalist knows that finding it involves exploring those pieces of information and figuring out the relationships between them.
By training yourself to look for “the lead,” you will suddenly find yourself able to see what you have missed. You’ll be able to do more than simply see the dots of each day: you’ll also connect them to see the trends. Instead of just reacting to the facts, you’ll be able to focus on the larger issues that really matter.
Listen deliberately for what is not being explicitly stated. They read between the lines.
Here are a few ways to tap into your inner journalist:
Play expands our minds in ways that allow us to explore: to germinate new ideas or see old ideas in a new light. It makes us more inquisitive, more attuned to novelty, more engaged. Play is fundamental to living the way of the Essentialist because it fuels exploration in at least three specific ways:
Mine their past for play memories. What did you do as a child that excited you? How can you re-create that today?
The best asset we have for making a contribution to the world is ourselves. If we underinvest in ourselves, and by that I mean our minds, our bodies, and our spirits, we damage the very tool we need to make our highest contribution.
For a type A personality, it is not hard to push oneself hard. Pushing oneself to the limit is easy! The real challenge for the person who thrives on challenges is not to work hard.
If you think you are so tough you can do anything I have a challenge for you. If you really want to do something hard: say no to an opportunity so you can take a nap.
Essentialists instead see sleep as necessary for operating at high levels of contribution more of the time. This is why they systematically and deliberately build sleep into their schedules so they can do more, achieve more, and explore more.
No More Yes. It’s Either HELL YEAH! Or No.
The 90 Percent Rule - As you evaluate an option, think about the single most important criterion for that decision, and then simply give the option a score between 0 and 100. If you rate it any lower than 90 percent, then automatically change the rating to 0 and simply reject it. Say yes to only the top 10 percent of opportunities.
Use narrow, explicit criteria like, “Is this exactly what I am looking for?”
If we just say yes because it is an easy reward, we run the risk of having to later say no to a more meaningful one.
Here’s a simple, systematic process you can use to apply selective criteria to opportunities that come your way. First, write down the opportunity. Second, write down a list of three “minimum criteria” the options would need to “pass” in order to be considered. Third, write down a list of three ideal or “extreme criteria” the options would need to “pass” in order to be considered. By definition, if the opportunity doesn’t pass the first set of criteria, the answer is obviously no. But if it also doesn’t pass two of your three extreme criteria, the answer is still no.
Say no to the nonessentials so we can say yes to the things that really matter. It is to say no — frequently and gracefully — to everything but what is truly vital.
Denying the request is not the same as denying the person.
Essentialists choose “no” more often than they say no.
The more we think about what we are giving up when we say yes to someone, the easier it is to say no.
Everyone is selling something — an idea, a viewpoint, an opinion — in exchange for your time.
When the initial annoyance or disappointment or anger wears off, the respect kicks in. When we push back effectively, it shows people that our time is highly valuable. It distinguishes the professional from the amateur.
Eight responses you can put in your “no” repertoire:
The killer question when deciding what activities to eliminate is: “If I didn’t have this opportunity, what would I be willing to do to acquire it?”
“What, of my list of competing priorities, should I say yes to?” Instead, ask the essential question: “What will I say no to?”
When there is a serious lack of clarity about what the team stands for and what their goals and roles are, people experience confusion, stress, and frustration. When there is a high level of clarity, on the other hand, people thrive.
Two common patterns that typically emerge when teams lack clarity of purpose:
Essential intent is both inspirational and concrete, both meaningful and measurable. Done right, it is one decision that settles one thousand later decisions.
How do we craft a statement of purpose that is both concrete and inspiring, meaningful and memorable?
“If we could be truly excellent at only one thing, what would it be?”
“How will we know when we have succeeded?”
Clarity about what is essential fuels us with the strength to say no to the nonessentials.
Sunk-cost bias is the tendency to continue to invest time, money, or energy into something we know is a losing proposition simply because we have already incurred, or sunk, a cost that cannot be recouped.
An Essentialist has the courage and confidence to admit his or her mistakes and uncommit, no matter the sunk costs.
Ask yourself, “If I weren’t already invested in this project, how much would I invest in it now?”
Think, “What else could I do with this time or money if I pulled the plug now?”
Beware of the endowment effect. A sense of ownership is a powerful thing. It's our tendency to undervalue things that aren’t ours and to overvalue things because we already own them.
When we feel we “own” an activity, it becomes harder to uncommit. To counteract this, pretend you don't own it yet.
Only when we admit we have made a mistake in committing to something can we make a mistake a part of our past.
Someone who is not emotionally involved in the situation and unaffected by the choice we make can give us the permission to stop forcing something that is clearly not working out.
The status quo bias - The tendency to continue doing something simply because we have always done it.
Instead of trying to budget your time on the basis of existing commitments, assume that all bets are off. All previous commitments are gone. Then begin from scratch, asking which you would add today.
Pausing for just five seconds before offering your services can greatly reduce the possibility of making a commitment you’ll regret.
In a reverse pilot you test whether removing an initiative or activity will have any negative consequences.
By quietly eliminating or at least scaling back an activity for a few days or weeks you might be able to assess whether it is really making a difference or whether no one really cares.
Editing aids the effortless execution of the Essentialist by removing anything distracting or unnecessary or awkward.
Being better means subtracting something.
Eliminate the distracting words, images, and details.
Four simple principles inherent in editing do apply to editing the nonessentials out of our lives:
Boundaries are a little like the walls of a sandcastle. The second we let one fall over, the rest of them come crashing down.
Essentialists, on the other hand, see boundaries as empowering. They recognize that boundaries protect their time from being hijacked and often free them from the burden of having to say no to things that further others’ objectives instead of their own.
DON’T ROB PEOPLE OF THEIR PROBLEMS - When people make their problem our problem, we aren’t helping them; we’re enabling them. Once we take their problem for them, all we’re doing is taking away their ability to solve it.
When we don’t set clear boundaries in our lives we can end up imprisoned by the limits others have set for us. When we have clear boundaries, on the other hand, we are free to select from the whole area — or the whole range of options — that we have deliberately chosen to explore.
Think of one person who frequently pulls you off your most essential path. Make a list of your dealbreakers — the types of requests or activities from that person that you simply refuse to say yes to unless they somehow overlap with your own priorities or agenda.
Write down any time you feel violated or put upon by someone’s request.
CRAFT SOCIAL CONTRACTS - “Let’s just agree on what we want to achieve,” I began. “Here are a couple of things that really matter to me …” And I ask them to do the same.
We can reduce the friction of executing the essential in our work and lives simply by creating a buffer.
The Essentialist looks ahead. She plans. She prepares for different contingencies. She expects the unexpected. She creates a buffer to prepare for the unforeseen, thus giving herself some wiggle room when things come up, as they inevitably do.
Use the good times to create a buffer for the bad.
Here are a few tips for keeping your work — and sanity — from swerving off the road by creating a buffer:
What is the obstacle that is keeping you back from achieving what really matters to you? By systematically identifying and removing this “constraint” you’ll be able to significantly reduce the friction keeping you from executing what is essential.
Instead of looking for the most obvious or immediate obstacles, look for the ones slowing down progress. They ask, “What is getting in the way of achieving what is essential?”
An Essentialist produces more — brings forth more — by removing more instead of doing more.
The Essentialist focuses on the constraints or obstacles we need to remove by:
Instead of trying to accomplish it all — and all at once — and flaring out, the Essentialist starts small and celebrates progress. Instead of going for the big, flashy wins that don’t really matter, the Essentialist pursues small and simple wins in areas that are essential.
Research has shown that of all forms of human motivation the most effective one is progress.
We can all create systems like this both at home and at work. The key is to start small, encourage progress, and celebrate small wins. Here are a few techniques:
Instead of spending our limited supply of discipline on making the same decisions again and again, embedding our decisions into our routine allows us to channel that discipline toward some other essential activity.
Create routines that make executing essentials almost effortless.
To operate at your highest level of contribution requires that you deliberately tune in to what is important in the here and now.
Execution is easy if you work hard at it and hard if you work easy at it.
We can easily do two things at the same time (e.g. Talk and eat at the same time). But what we can’t do is concentrate on two things at the same time.
Multitasking itself is not the enemy of Essentialism; pretending we can “multifocus” is.
Techniques to consider:
“The pause that refreshes” technique - Stop for just a moment. Close your eyes. Breathe in and out once: deeply and slowly. As you exhale, let the work issues fall away.
Once you become an Essentialist, you will find that you aren’t like everybody else. When other people are saying yes, you will find yourself saying no. When other people are doing, you will find yourself thinking. When other people are speaking, you will find yourself listening. When other people are in the spotlight, vying for attention, you will find yourself waiting on the sidelines until it is time to shine. While other people are padding their résumés and building out their LinkedIn profiles, you will be building a career of meaning. While other people are complaining (read: bragging) about how busy they are, you will just be smiling sympathetically, unable to relate. While other people are living a life of stress and chaos, you will be living a life of impact and fulfillment. In many ways, to live as an Essentialist in our too-many-things-all-the-time society is an act of quiet revolution.
MIND-SET - Nonessentialist: Everything to everyone. Essentialist: Less but better.
TALENT - Nonessentialist: Hires people frantically and creates a “Bozo explosion” (when a formerly great team or company descends into mediocrity). Essentialist: Ridiculously selective on talent and removes people who hold the team back.
STRATEGY - Nonessentialist: Pursues a straddled strategy where everything is a priority. Essentialist: Defines an essential intent by answering the question, “If we could only do one thing, what would it be?” Eliminates the nonessential distractions.
EMPOWERMENT - Nonessentialist: Allows ambiguity over who is doing what. Decisions are capricious. Essentialist: Focuses on each team member’s highest role and goal of contribution. Understands that clarity is the key to empowerment. He doesn’t allow roles to be general and vague. He ensures that everyone on the team is really clear about what they are expected to contribute and what everyone else is contributing.
COMMUNICATION - Nonessentialist: Talks in code. Essentialist: Listens to get to what is essential. Communicates the right things to the right people at the right time. Speak succinctly, opting for restraint in their communication to keep the team focused. When they do speak, they are crystal clear. They eschew meaningless jargon, and their message is so consistent it seems almost boring to their ears. In this way, teams are able to pick up the essential through all the trivial noise.
ACCOUNTABILITY - Nonessentialist: Checks in too much or is so busy he or she checks out altogether. Sometimes does both: disrupting the focus of the group and then being absent to the group. Essentialist: Checks in with people in a gentle way to see how he or she can remove obstacles and enable small wins. Makes follow-up so easy and frictionless that it actually happens. By checking in with people frequently to reward small wins and help people remove obstacles, he bolsters the team’s motivation and focus and enables them to make more meaningful progress.
RESULT - Nonessentialist: A fractured team that makes a millimeter of progress in a million directions. Essentialist: A unified team that breaks through to the next level of contribution.