www.waypointanalytics.com WayPoint Best Practices Library   (Secrets of the World's Profit Leaders)
The Simple Technique Winners Use to Get to the Front

Randy MacLean, President — WayPoint Analytics

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The Habit of Focus

Successful companies often have a secret advantage that helps them pull ahead of everyone else. This open secret, one that just about anyone can put to work, comes in the form of a habit: That habit of prioritizing the things that drive the most change.

If you're spending your time on the status quo, just keeping the business moving, or on something that will produce nearly the same result as if you didn't work on it at all, you're likely producing mediocre results too. After all, you can't get a different result by doing the same thing. Changing something is the only way to get more out of it.

Both individuals, and companies that lead their fields have developed this habit that gives them an edge. More specifically, it means working first and hardest on the things that will deliver the greatest change.

Why change matters

Change is a great equalizer, a habit that will put you ahead of others who may be smarter, stronger, faster or have other advantages. Spending most of your time on things that will never have any meaningful impact on your bottom line is no way to get ahead. Super-performers are those that are just a little bit better at changing and putting a larger proportion of their time into things that will make a noticeable difference.

Most executives and managers spend their time on unimportant tasks. By adopting a new habit of focusing on change, on new approaches, new processes, and new data about your business, you can pull ahead of the pack.

The takeaway is that no matter how hard you work, if you are doing the same things every day, you will not get ahead. But, if you're disciplined about making a habit of prioritizing and focusing on the things that will have the most impact every day, you are well on your way to the top.

Audio file: wp-tips_12.mp3