To focus, you have to learn to relinquish
Focus means saying no to phenomenal ideas.
You can find the first two articles about focus here and here. This post is also available in Portuguese.
“What lessons did you take away from working with Steve Jobs?” the journalist asked Jony Ive, Apple’s former Chief Design Officer.
Ive gave a thought-provoking answer:
Steve was the most focused person I've ever met.
And the thing with focus is it’s not something you aspire to or that you just decide on Monday, “you know what, I’m going to be focused.”
Focus means asking every minute, “Why are we talking about that? This is what we’re working on.”
One of the things Steve would say—because I think he was concerned that I wasn't focused—was, "How many things have you said no to?"
And honestly, I would have these sacrificial things, and I’d say, “oh, I said no to this, and no to that.” But he knew I wasn’t vaguely interested in doing those things anyway. So there was no real sacrifice.
What focus means is saying no to something that with every bone in your body you think is a phenomenal idea.
You wake up thinking about it, but you say no to it because you are focusing on something else.
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Learning to relinquish
As I’ve explained, focus goes way beyond simply “prioritizing” or saying no to things you weren’t that interested in anyway. Real focus requires making painful tradeoffs, even turning down amazing ideas.
To truly focus, we have to learn to relinquish. We have to learn to let go of our attachment to even our most cherished ideas.
In fact, Apple's history provides a perfect example.
To focus on the iPhone, Apple's leaders had to relinquish updating products like the MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air for several years.
Imagine how hard that decision was. Apple was built on top of the Mac, and the product has a cult-like following among customers.
I'm sure Jobs, Ive, and many others thought launching new MacBooks was a phenomenal idea. But by saying no, the company was able to focus on the iPhone, the most successful product in history.
Relinquishing old assumptions
Sometimes saying no means making different choices and relinquishing old assumptions.
When Apple launched the first iPhone, market leaders Nokia and Blackberry were making phones based on a few core beliefs. Phones needed physical keyboards, had to bounce unharmed if dropped on concrete, and the battery had to last for a week.
As Benedict Evans points out, by rejecting those assumptions, Apple created a product so compelling that people gladly switched:
Here we are several years later and the iPhone battery lasts for a day and if you drop it, it breaks. But it's worth it for the experience.
Creating a relinquish list
Creating a real strategy involves clearly articulating what you'll focus on. But it also involves defining a relinquish list that clearly communicates all the amazing ideas you are saying no to.
But companies often sweep priorities under the rug, hiding them in multiple ways.
Sometimes people intentionally try to hide priorities by setting a small number of OKRs while keeping multiple projects running “on the side”. This allows them to create the illusion of focus without having to say no.
However, there are also priorities that are hidden so deep that people don't even realize they exist.
KPIs are a common source for those implicit priorities. Teams often set dozens of them and then try to move all at the same time, turning each KPI into another “priority.”
People who sweep priorities under the rug are just fooling themselves.
They may say they are focused, but they are still drinking from too many bottles in parallel and wondering why they can't move faster.
To create a real relinquish list, you have to cover the two buckets of investments: all your intended outcomes, metrics, and projects.
How can you know if you are truly focusing?
There’s a simple test to know if you are focusing or not. As my trainer used to say, “If it feels easy, you are doing it wrong.”
If you are talking about a truly phenomenal idea, it means there's a real need for it. Turning it down will be painful.
Customers and stakeholders will fight for the idea, as will the people who are working on that product or initiative.
Mac fans hated the delays in launching new models. Some even accused Apple of abandoning the product in favor of the iPhone. I'd bet that the Mac team didn't like that either.
If you are saying no to a phenomenal idea, someone will resist it. If saying no feels easy, you are not focusing enough.
“I can’t say no because I don’t control all my priorities”
Sometimes people argue that they can't say no because many of their priorities are defined by others: executives, stakeholders, customers, or the government.
But there are priorities that fall under your control, and you should start by trying to relinquish some of them. Even that can make a big impact.
You don't have to say no to it forever
Sometimes, saying no is a final decision. For example, when a company stops selling a given product.
But you can also say a temporary no, as Apple did when it decided to delay the updates to the Macbook line.
Quarterly planning makes it easier to say no. After all, you are not saying no forever, only for the next quarter.
And by working on your priorities sequentially instead of in parallel, you'll move faster.
OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT, used a clear visual to illustrate its decision to work sequentially, focusing on reducing price before improving speed.
As CEO Sam Altman explained, they had to choose one or the other, so they focused on price first, with plans to work on speed next.
Working sequentially can be a powerful tool, and one that is not so hard to implement.
How many things have you said no to?
Now it's time to ask yourself the same question Steve Jobs asked Jony Ive: how many things have you said no to?
And remember: It's not enough to reject ideas that others love but you don't. To focus, you have to say no to ideas that you personally believe are phenomenal.
Coming next: how do you choose where to focus on?
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