Reader Tim Bailen writes in: “Thought you guys would like this idea — that a ‘stop doing’ list is more important than a ‘to-do’ list. It’s from Jim Collins’ study of companies that went from good to great.”
Most of us lead busy but undisciplined lives. We have ever-expanding ‘to do’ lists, trying to build momentum by doing, doing, doing—and doing more. And it rarely works. Those who built the good-to-great companies, however, made as much use of ‘stop doing’ lists as ‘to do’ lists.
Collins also discusses how “stop doing” lists can relate to one’s personal and professional life in this essay.
1) What are you deeply passionate about?
2) What are you are genetically encoded for — what activities do you feel just “made to do”?
3) What makes economic sense — what can you make a living at?Those fortunate enough to find or create a practical intersection of the three circles have the basis for a great work life.
Think of the three circles as a personal guidance mechanism. As you navigate the twists and turns of a chaotic world, it acts like a compass. Am I on target? Do I need to adjust left, up, down, right? If you make an inventory of your activities today, what percentage of your time falls outside the three circles?
If it is more than 50%, then the stop doing list might be your most important tool…
A great piece of art is composed not just of what is in the final piece, but equally important, what is not. It is the discipline to discard what does not fit — to cut out what might have already cost days or even years of effort — that distinguishes the truly exceptional artist and marks the ideal piece of work, be it a symphony, a novel, a painting, a company or, most important of all, a life.
That’s a good way to put it: You need the discipline to discard what does not fit.
Jagath
on 03 Dec 09Recently, I read a great paper by Paul Cilliers titled “On the importance of certain slowness” which uses complexity theory to explain the importance of being “reflective” and going slow at times. http://complexity.vub.ac.be/phil/drafts/Cilliers.pdf
Cilliers says – ”... a system which has carefully accumulated the relevant memories and experiences over time will be in a better position to react quickly than one which is perpetually jumping from one state to the other. Perhaps “slow” and “fast” are not exactly the correct terms to use. Terms like “reflective” and “unreflective”, or “mediated” and “unmediated” may be more accurate.” And ends the paper with – “With a little more regularity we should say “no”.”
I have been reading about complexity theory in the context of management, and I am excited to find many of the ideas in the complexity approach aligning closely with the 37signals philosophy. I think you guys (at 37signals, and all the fans of this blog) will love reading that paper.
Laurent
on 03 Dec 09A good, and recent, example of “stop doing” is Google dropping Gears in favor of HTML 5.
Don MacDonald
on 03 Dec 09Jagath: you’d probably also like Chris Zook’s books as well. He stresses the importance of nurturing and focusing on your core stuff. Now whether that’s on an individual level or an organizational one, the principle is the same. Don’t lose sight of what it is that you’re good at and you love doing. The concept of a not-to-do list dovetails nicely with the goal of sticking to your core passion and eliminating distractions or things which are irrelevant to the stuff you’re “made to do.”
I'mLikeARainbow
on 03 Dec 09Ha ha! Gotcha… your new secret project is the Not Ta-Da List!!
chriskalani
on 03 Dec 09haha! wow, a couple weeks ago I was thinking about this same sort of concept. I was fudging around in Rails working on a little todo list app and had the epiphany of a “not to do list”. I jotted down some notes about it, one of the main focuses was “breaking habits”. Dude, this is nuts. Love it.
Gal @ Look A Day
on 03 Dec 09Tim Ferris has something similar where he talks about not trying to correct your weaknesses and instead focusing on your strengths. We all think that if we just fix those areas we’re weak at we’re going to get amazing results but the truth is that even if we fix up those areas, they are likely to always be mediocre at best. It’s better to focus on our strengths and try to be exceptional in those areas than mediocre in our weak areas.
Mike
on 03 Dec 09I did not put a name on the concept, but I’m actively trying to define what really makes me tick, what I really like doing and I’m trying to put more of my time in these activities than in the other time-wasters.
It’s quite difficult sometimes, but it just makes sense to focus on what you’re truly passionate about.
Blue Sail Creative
on 04 Dec 09I agree that stop doing is imimportant but you should clarify. Just because you stop doing it doesn’t mean it doesn’t have to get done.
I have streamlined my business and grown revenues substantially by automating a lot of the tasks that took a long time for me to complete.
This includes Accounting, Prospecting, etc. I now have an automated business that allows me to do what I love.
I recommend every body reads Work The System by Sam Carpenter.
Christopher Hastings
on 04 Dec 09so Jim Collins is cool and all – but he stole it from Peter Drucker. I know the “great ones steal” but to focus people on Collins writing when Drucker is eons better is just – well, disappointing.
Specifically he laid it out in Managing Oneself – Harvard Business Review, 1999.
http://www.uky.edu/Provost/APFA/ALDP/Managing_oneself.pdf
Jagath Narayan
on 04 Dec 09Don: Thank you. I’ll take a look at Chris Zook
Cormac
on 04 Dec 09What if there’s no overlap between your three circles?
Paul
on 04 Dec 09It’s the most difficult thing to say no because we are ambitious creatures and we think that by doing more we achieve more… but that’s not true. Thank for reminding.
Jay Thrash
on 04 Dec 09or maybe the Na-da (nada) List
Mitch Anthony
on 05 Dec 09This is an important idea to stop and hold. I’m really taken by Jagath’s observation that relevant memories and experiences position us to react from a place of greater nimbleness and strength.
Last night I was reading Marc Lesser’s “Zen of Business Administration”. He points to meditation as a tool for touching that which we are most passionate about. “In our work an in our lives we practice meditation, mindfulness, awareness and compassion and we experience the shortness and sacredness of life. This enables us to live fully in each moment, outside our usual conceptions of ourselves and our world.”
Thanks for the great post.
jrduboc
on 05 Dec 09This is a great example of application for the 80/20 system, in a way. I would say the #1 item in my stop doing list is watching TV (at least watching so much of it).
Gummi Hafsteinsson
on 06 Dec 09The funniest thing is that most people understand and know about this concept, but so rarely apply it in any earnest. Add to this the fact that in many organization, you have dozens or even hundreds of people asking you to do things or look into things or have a quick meeting to discuss something, which makes it even harder to be truly focused.
Perhaps creating a list will help some make this more explicit (e.g. stop watching TV as @jrduboc mentions) but the real challenge is in confronting others to stop wasting your time when appropriate (that last part, “when appropriate” is so critical – there are a lot of things that have to get done, even though you don’t like doing them).
Perhaps adding this to some of the productivity tools would make it easier (I like that Na-da idea)? And every time you get an email from a person working on a project you’ve labeled as a things you’re not going to do, a warning message pops up “You’ve previously decided not to work on the project this person is associated with – proceed with caution”... ah, if only life was that simple :)
This discussion is closed.