Today
is Habit #3. A few weeks ago I turned the conversation towards
effectiveness. Then, I started tackling Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, one
at a time.
My
discussion of the first habit was pretty good (Click here to read it.) The second habit was more difficult because it deals with fear
and doubt (Click here.) Subjects that can take up entire books.
Speaking
of taking up entire books, this third habit did! Covey once wrote a
book titled First Things First. Obviously, the idea is rather
important.
In
order to understand first things first we need to consider two ideas:
importance and urgency. We need to think about what is urgent. A
fairly straightforward task. And, we think about what is important. A
much more difficult task, which is the subject of the second habit.
His
book, First Things First, is meant to be a time management
book. Because this third habit is largely about time
management. A lot of people think that the key to time management is
getting more stuff done. And, while that is partially true, we must
first consider what that “stuff” is. Covey
wrote, “Daily planning often misses important things that can only
be seen from a larger perspective.”
For
example, Covey gives the analogy of efficiently stacking the
chairs on the deck of the Titanic. If you are a efficient worker, you
could stack a lot of chairs. But, of course, it is a complete waste
of time. In fact, Peter Drucker once said, there is nothing so
useless as efficiently doing the wrong things.
It
should be clear that we need to identify what the right things are.
To Covey's way of thinking we need to create mission statements. We
need to begin with the end in mind.
Drucker
might say it slightly different. He would ask, “What do you want to
be remembered for?” A question he borrowed from Saint Augustine.
Regardless of how you wish to conceptualize the idea, it is vitally
important that we all identify what is important to us. Warning! This
task is quite a bit harder than it sounds.
Covey
wrote, “If we don't have a clear idea of what is
important, of the results we desire in our lives, we are easily
diverted into responding to the urgent.” And, he created a
matrix, a quadrant, to help visualize his teachings. Here is Covey's
quadrant:
All
of Covey's Habits live in Quadrant II. The problem is that the Habits
are not urgent activities. For example, I would say reading is very
important. And, reading is most definitely a Quadrant II activity.
Unless you are currently in school, reading can always be put off
until tomorrow. And, it usually is.
Because
we have a tendency to neglect Quadrant II, we need to make a
concerted effort and focus on doing the things that are important but
not urgent. Otherwise, we will constantly get distracted responding
to things urgent.
We
must identify what is important to us. You can do this utilizing what
Saint Augustine said. Or, if you do not think it is too negative, you
can write your own eulogy.
If
you are reading this blog you are either an entrepreneur or you would
like to be an entrepreneur. So, let me take a guess. If you want to
be an entrepreneur, freedom is one of your main value. Freedom is
very important to you.
So,
let's talk entrepreneurship.
As it applies to entrepreneurship, for the most part, the first thing
is get attention. Good ideas are ten-a-penny. The real key is
execution.
Have
you ever watched the television show Shark Tank? Have you noticed how
Mark Cuban loves entrepreneurs that are willing to go door-to-door to
sell their products? What is Cuban saying?
While
it is true that Cuban used to sell trash bags, door-to-door, he is
not waxing nostalgic. What Mark understands is the vital importance
of getting attention and selling things. Hence, the subtitle of this
blog.
Because
I am so loyal to Drucker, let me put it in his words. Peter Drucker
said that a business exists for one reason. To create a customer.
That is pretty powerful. He did not say businesses exist for three
reasons. He said one reason.
When
we translate Drucker into the parlance of Covey we arrive at this
third habit. The “first thing” of a business is to create a
customer. Creating a customer involves two deceptively simple steps.
Have a valuable product or service, and sell it to people. It is
extremely simple and very difficult.
To
get to real freedom, you are probably going to need to build some
sort of organization. That will take some time. Just remember what
Drucker said. A business exists for one reason. If the customer is
your focal point, sales and marketing come first. Keep first things
first.
