I read this post today over at Seth Godin’s blog and it made me realize just how little time people spend on strategy as opposed to just performing tasks. Actually, I’ve been spending some time thinking about this because at times I’m as guilty as the next guy.
We spend the vast majority of our time on our “to do” list, in meetings, reading and replying to email, making phone calls, etc. How effective are these at meeting our goals? Do we even have a big picture strategy in mind during the course of performing these functions?
My guess is for most people these actions are actually counterproductive to their goals. Emails, meetings, assigned tasks, etc. actually push and pull us in so many directions we forget which way is up.
What I believe sets the successful apart from the average is simply focus. Relentless focus on the goal even in the midst of performing the seemingly menial.