1% Short - Ask The Right Question

A 1% Short is a short blog post that provides quick information, a challenge, or something of value for your contemplation.

As I've been working on the series "Saying No", I ran across a blog from which I got the Steve Jobs Philosophy for Saying No and the video.  If you haven't viewed it yet - definitely worth the view - it's not very long.

On that blog the author referenced a decision-making tree and asking the right questions. Since I am going through my assessment about what my business will look like moving into 2013, I read a question that was powerful for me.


In presenting the question for you, I left it in the context in which I found it:

"What separates successful ventures from failures is choosing to do the right things.  What separates great successes from merely good ones is choosing not to do the wrong things.

When faced with a question about whether to add a feature, the decision often revolves around whether customers will like it.  This is a good first question, but stopping there leads to sub-optimal results.  It is important to ask the next question:  What can we not do by doing this?  Resources are limited.  For each feature that goes into a product, something else(quality, time, other features) comes out.  If that is forgotten, the product will end up with too many features that are good but not great and a product that feels the same."

Part of effective decision making is asking really good questions and for me at this time this one is serving me well and may you as well - "What can we not do by doing this?...resources are limited."

Consider this: In the spirit of living a quality life, having the life you really want - you, your life is a limited resource. What can you no do by what you are choosing to do....?

The author is Steve Rowe (@steverowe) - here is a link to the original post: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/steverowe/archive/2011/10/06/steve-jobs-and-the-value-of-saying-no.aspx


If you need to improve your productivity - then you'll want to check out the book Organizational Strategies for the Overwhelmed - how to manage your time, space, & priorities, to work smart, get results & be happy -  Kindle - The Book - Nook - Audio Book -  The Seminar

If you are struggling with saying no - I recommend the book: The Power of a Positive No- William Wry

This blog is based on this book. In it are actionable ideas on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness