Doing the right things vs Doing things right

When we start out, the goal should be to do the right things.

But to get to the right things, we have to do things, try things, test things.

As we keep doing things, we start to spot what works and what doesn’t.

A lot of people lose motivation when things don’t work the first time, or the second, or the third.

They drop off along the way.

They quit too early.

They focus on the outcome and not on the process.

When in truth…

…whenever we create something new, failing is part of the iterative process of getting to what works.

That’s what I call experience.

Experience is knowing how to spot what works, but it’s also knowing how to spot what doesn’t.

Once we’ve found what works, the goal changes.

The goal becomes: how do I do this thing well.

How do I optimise it so I can leverage this thing that works.

How do I automate it so this thing is always done well.

That part is usually boring.

And a lot of people make the mistake of going looking for “the next thing” to do.

One brings incremental improvement while the other brings exponential improvement.

One has the power to transform, the other to leverage.

Both matter.

What changes is the goal.

Once we’ve found the right things, we move on to doing things right.

🤙
Jorge

PS. Are you doing the right things? Are you doing things right?