Include these excellent books in your Christmas List – heck, just order them without hesitation. You’ll be delighted you did – Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck – Why Some Thrive Despite Them All by Jim Collins and Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everyone Else by Geoff Colvin.
Both of these books strengthen every One Percent™ thought, choice, and action that I’ve written, you’ve read, and both of us have acted upon with grand success. To condense, those who thrive where others fall short or just manage follow four chief principles.
- They are fanatical about discipline.
- They are empirical in their creativity.
- They are paranoid about their productivity.
- They practice, practice, and practice – 10,000 hours’ worth, to be exact.
Regarding fanatic discipline. Have you mapped out a strategy for success over the next three years? Can you illustrate your plan for success? Is it visible to you anywhere you go? Have you determined what’s essential to move forward in the next year? What about this month? Are your monthly goals tied to the larger plan? Weekly projects? Daily deliverables? Hourly tasks? What you will discover in common – in both books – is that every step taken (plainly and symbolically) has a specific intent based on the greater, complete strategy.
Regarding empirical creativity. Several years ago, the Harvard Business Review published an article describing the value of innovation. The article showcased that nearly 98 percent of the value of innovation comes from imitation. “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door” is an oft misquoted phrase that comes to mind. The mousetrap exists (innovation); improve it (imitation), and you harvest 98 percent of the value of the innovation. How can you distinguish your product, and the problems it solves, in your crowded market space? What services might you offer and improve that can better the lives of your customers? Empirically, where do you have the greatest chance of sustained success? Are you maximizing this statistically significant opportunity?
Regarding productive paranoia. Are you positioning your resources – financial, time, people – in a manner that is of utmost strategic value? Are you investing in markets and projects that amplify your company’s intransience in your market? Are you committed to – and scheduling – a method that situates your intellectual firepower in the most strategic of places on an hourly, daily, weekly, and more basis? Are your right people in the well-known right seats on the recognized right bus?
Regarding practice, practice, and practice. The 10,000 hour rule is pretty clear-cut: invest 10,000 hours in the practice of your craft and you will be a One Percent™ world-class performer. You may believe, “I don’t have 10,000 hours to practice” or “10,000 hours is a long time; I need results now.” Wrong – you do have 10,000 hours. What you do with the 10,000 hours is the difference maker. Ten thousand hours divided into a 50-hour workweek is 200 weeks. Two hundred weeks divided by a 48-week work year (come on, we need vacations and holidays) is just over four years. Four years.
Think about your own work day. How much better of a CEO, vice president, or sales leader could you be with more discipline? With more statistically sound creativity? With the best use of your time in productivity? Could you do it for a day? How about a week? Make it a month? Could you practice that course of action of discipline, creativity, and productivity for another month? Yes, indeed. And in about four years – you, your company, and your market presence can be great by your choice and separate from everyone else.
That’s a One Percent™ difference that begins with your thinking, choices, and actions.
